Things to do in Pacific Beach San Diego

UPDATED JULY 2024By <a href="#author-bio">Stuart Bak</a>
By Stuart Bak
Crystal Pier on Pacific Beach, San Diego

Sandwiched between La Jolla to the north and Mission Beach to the south, Pacific Beach – or P.B. as it's known to locals – is a sun-drenched slice of Californian paradise. Alongside a beautiful sandy beach and fairly calm waters, it boasts some of the best nightlife in the area, with a high density of lively bars and restaurants frequented by the local student‘n’surfer crowd. Dive in to discover our favorite things to do in Pacific Beach San Diego.

Beach Party Atmosphere

Central Pacific Beach’s party vibe is the stuff of legend. During the day, the sunkissed blonde sands are alive with kitesurfers, kids playing volleyball and everything else in between. Firepits glow red in the twilight of balmy summer evenings as revelers soak up the gentle sea breezes and prepare for an evening in the hip bars and restaurants around the broad, palm-lined Garnet and Grand avenues.

Mosey along to the SD Taproom on Garnet to sample a selection of San Diego’s legendary craft beers, from hoppy pale ales to rich chocolate stouts. A bar menu that includes pizza, burgers and giant pretzels will help soak up all that lovely beer. Or hit the Pacific Beach Fish Shop for ocean-fresh tacos brimming over with the grilled fish or crustacean of your choice, plus crab cakes, clam chowder and more.

Image of People, Person, Playing Volleyball, Volleyball, Volleyball (Ball), Child, Female, Girl, Shorts, Boy, Male, Teen,

The three-mile oceanfront boardwalk stretches all the way south to Mission Beach and Mission Bay, and bustles with cyclists, skateboarders, rollerbladers and shoppers. Hire a bike to explore this scenic stretch of the California coast, and make a day of it by taking a picnic and meandering south around Mission Bay’s winding shoreline. Or head north into the bluffs of La Jolla, with their spectacular sea views.

Fishermen angle for bass and halibut off Crystal Pier, jockeying for position with selfie-takers. Tread its boards as the sun sets, turning the sky several remarkable shades of orange, pink and purple, for some of the finest photo opportunities in the area.

You needn’t stray too far from the main drag to find a relatively quiet stretch of beach, either: the calm waters and broad sands just north of the pier are a little less lively and especially popular with families as a result. Like Central P.B., North Pacific Beach has designated swimming and surfing areas, and a reassuring lifeguard presence.

Surf’s up! Grab your board and make for Tourmaline Surfing Park. This cute cove where P.B. meets La Jolla is surrounded by cliffs and accessed down a steep, palm-lined road through Tourmaline Canyon. The slow-rolling waves make this beach popular with novice surfers, as well as windsurfers and kiteboarders when the wind is up.

Park Life

Image of Building, Cityscape, Urban, Nature, Outdoors, Scenery, Horizon, Sky, Landscape,

A big favorite with in-the-know locals, Kate Sessions Park is 79 acres of gorgeous greenery set on the verdant slopes of Mount Soledad. Pack a picnic and throw down your blanket on the grassy lawns for fresh sea air, balmy breezes and some absolutely cracking views of Mission Bay, P.B. and San Diego’s famous urban skyline. On clear days you might even glimpse the Coronado Bridge curving across the shimmering blue ocean. There’s a playground as well as plenty of wild trails for walking and biking. As dusk descends, fire up one of the barbecues for a sunset cookout and enjoy that magical moment when the lights come on in downtown San Diego’s distant skyscrapers.

Lying east of the Pacific Beach neighborhood on the other side of Interstate 5, Tecolote Canyon National Park makes for a great day out thanks to its unchallenging walking trails and nature center with information on the canyon’s diverse flora and fauna, including a rainbow of butterflies and wildflowers and the occasional snake. Take the 10-kilometer Tecolote Canyon Trail, which weaves its fairly flat way through the narrow valley, and keep your eyes peeled for the majestic birds that give the canyon its name (tecolote is the Spanish word for owl).

A shorter trail through the Native Plant Garden is ideal for families. Plants are numbered along the trail, and you can learn the names of each both in English and Kumeyaay, the language of San Diego’s original Native American settlers.

Top Nearby Attractions

Image of Animal, Bear, Mammal, Wildlife, Sea Life, Seal, Sea Lion,

North of Pacific Beach, picture-perfect La Jolla boasts wild, pine-scented hills and valleys and a long stretch of alternatingly rocky and sandy coastline that make it great for surfing, swimming, sunbathing and... seal-spotting. A number of colonies of harbor seals call this sunny spot in California their home. Head on up to Children’s Beach, where you’ll find dozens frolicking playfully in the surf and basking on the warm sand. Originally intended as a safe place for kids to swim following the installation of a concrete breakwater in the 1930s, it’s now one of the best seal-spotting destinations on the coast, with the colony estimated to be over 200 strong.

And, if the cute seals have whetted your appetite for marine life, you’re in for an absolute treat at SeaWorld San Diego, just a short distance south of Pacific Beach in Mission Bay. Here’s where you’ll find orca whales and other giants of the deep including beautiful loggerhead turtles, other-worldly Japanese spider crabs and the elusive giant Pacific Octopus, a master of disguise. There are 19 enormous aquariums to explore here, plus stacks of high-octane thrill rides to keep everyone entertained.

You’ll find gentler, more old-fashioned fun at nearby Belmont Park on Mission Beach, where the wooden Giant Dipper roller coaster is a century-old National Historic landmark. Other fun amusement rides in this nostalgia-fueled beachfront theme park include bumper cars, mini golf and a traditional painted carousel.

Image of Amusement Park, Fun, Person, Roller Coaster,

Save on things to do in Pacific Beach San Diego

Save on admission to San Diego attractions with Go City. Check out @GoCity on Instagram and Facebook for the latest top tips and attraction info.

Stuart Bak
Stuart Bak
Freelance travel writer

Stu caught the travel bug at an early age, thanks to childhood road trips to the south of France squeezed into the back of a Ford Cortina with two brothers and a Sony Walkman. Now a freelance writer living on the Norfolk coast, Stu has produced content for travel giants including Frommer’s, British Airways, Expedia, Mr & Mrs Smith, and now Go City. His most memorable travel experiences include drinking kava with the locals in Fiji and pranging a taxi driver’s car in the Honduran capital.

Continue reading

Free fun near LEGOLAND California
Blog

Free fun near LEGOLAND California that kids will love

Don’t let the fun stop at LEGOLAND—there’s plenty to explore nearby for free.
A hiker on the cliffs in San Diego
Blog

Best Walks in San Diego

It would require several weeks with a detailed map and a good pair of walking boots to even scratch the surface of the hundreds of awe-inspiring walking opportunities in San Diego. The landscape of this sprawling metropolis is a vast pot-pourri of canyons, mountains, beaches, wild nature reserves and quirky neighborhood villages. Lace up your boots and get ready to explore this fascinating city with our taster guide to some of the best walks in San Diego. A Stroll Through Old San Diego Its heady hybrid of Mexican, Spanish and American influences make San Diego’s atmospheric Old Town a great place to start your exploration of the city and its rich, multicultural heritage. Here, after all, is where it all began. Grab your camera and get ready for a real flavor of the Old West, complete with prickly cacti, swaying palms and a plethora of original and recreation buildings, including the red-brick courthouse and – gulp – spooky Whaley House, purported to be one of the most haunted buildings in America. Amble through the Old Town San Diego State Historic Park to pretty Plaza de Las Armas, where you’ll find the 18th-century Spanish El Capitan cannon and a number of highly Instagrammable 19th-century adobe buildings. Pause awhile to watch traditional horse-drawn carriages rumbling past the blacksmith shop; if you time it right you might even catch one of the regular living history demonstrations that are held here. There’s also a colorful Mexican market with cute boutiques, unique souvenirs and oodles of authentic taquerias. Tuck in to a spicy fish taco or two to give you the energy you need to hoof it up the hill to Presidio Park, where San Diego’s original fort and mission were established in 1769. The pristine white tower of the Junípero Serra Museum boasts far-reaching views across the park’s perfectly manicured lawns to the Old Town and the ocean below. Take a Walk on the Wild Side Some of the best walking trails in San Diego can be found in Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, just a few miles north of Downtown in La Jolla. If it’s sweeping coastal views, skyscraping cacti, colorful wildflowers and otherworldly rock and sandstone formations you’re looking for, you’ve come to the right place. There are eight miles of marked trails over nearly 2,000 acres here on the cliffs overlooking the Pacific. Take the Broken Hill Trail Loop for an unchallenging three-mile loop that passes a grove of the native trees from which the reserve takes its name. These unusual endangered pines are so rare that they’re only found here and in one other place in California. Walk the route down to the stunning beach, one of the finest in the area, or continue on to Broken Hill itself for cracking sunset sea views. At less than a mile, the Guy Fleming Trail is the park’s easiest, with some incredible views that belie its relatively short length. Here, too, you can see the famous Torrey pines up close and enjoy views of Los Peñasquitos Marsh, La Jolla and, on clear days, as far out as the Santa Catalina Islands. Keep your eyes peeled for gray whales migrating along this stretch of coast from December to April. Walk San Diego’s Museum Mile Located just north of Downtown, Balboa Park is a huge tract of urban parkland that covers some 1,200 acres. Inside, you’ll find everything from world-class museums to Japanese gardens, theaters and cafés, as well as walking trails galore. You could spend hours if not days exploring it – indeed, there’s probably enough here to fill an entire vacation! For an easy walk that packs a serious punch, enter from Sixth Avenue, joining the broad El Prado boulevard, where many of Balboa Park’s biggest attractions can be found. Take time to admire the wild cocktail of architectural styles along its length, from the shaded cloisters and garlanded columns of Casa del Prado to the California Building’s intoxicating blend of Baroque, Rococo, Gothic and Churrigueresque styles, complete with playful tiled dome and striking three-story belltower. Nearby, statues of masters Velázquez, Murillo and Zurbarán gaze out from above the elaborate entrance to the San Diego Museum of Art, a Spanish Renaissance-style confection that houses a huge collection of fine works by its stone sentries, as well as significant pieces by Goya, El Greco, Monet, Canaletto, O’Keeffe and many more. Head south from El Prado to find inner peace in the zen-like solitude of the Japanese Friendship Garden. Then onwards to the ornate Spreckels Organ Pavilion, home of the planet’s largest outdoor organ. Timed just right, you might even catch one of the free recitals that boom out every Sunday afternoon around 2PM. Urban Exploration in North Park If you’re in the market for a nice walk in San Diego that also just happens to take in a bit of local history, a few brewery taprooms and a spot of urban art along the way, then look no further than North Park, a hip and happening ‘hood that hugs the northeast corner of Balboa Park. Start by immersing yourself in San Diego heritage with a stroll through the neighborhood’s leafy streets. Head north from Balboa Park between Pershing Avenue and 28th Street and it won’t be long before you stumble upon a traditional Craftsman’s house or two, modest bungalows with architectural hallmarks that include plain wooden exteriors and wide terracotta porches. Originally intended as an antidote to gratuitous Victorian opulence and ostentation, many of the homes here were built by Arts and Crafts pioneers David Owen Dryden and Edward F. Bryans in the early 20th Century. Sightseeing can be thirsty work, can’t it? Good news! A short hop east to 30th Street is where you’ll find perhaps the highest concentration of brewery taprooms anywhere in San Diego – no mean feat here in the craft beer capital of the USA! Pause for some well-earned refreshment at the Belching Beaver, where you can also liven up your Instagram with a selfie in front of the Greetings from San Diego mural on the brewery wall. Then continue your odyssey through this achingly cool suburb, where the street art is as plentiful as the beer is strong. Look out for colorful pieces by local legends Kreashun and Madsteez. And no, you haven’t had too much hazy pale ale to drink: that really is a skateboarding donut on the wall over there. Fans of US rock royalty should complete the trail on Adams Avenue, where artist Travis Crosby’s tributes to Prince and Jimi Hendrix are a joy to behold. Save on things to do in San Diego Save on admission to San Diego attractions with Go City. Check out @GoCity on Instagram and Facebook for the latest top tips and attraction info.
Stuart Bak
Stuart Bak
Lifeguard station on a San Diego beach
Blog

Is San Diego Safe?

San Diego’s golden beaches, fine museums, world-class attractions and buzzing nightlife mean you’ll never struggle for something to do in the town they call America's Finest City. From picnicking at the botanical gardens in Balboa Park to meeting curious critters at SeaWorld, riding the 100-year-old rollercoaster at Mission Beach and sipping fresh beer in the city’s famed taprooms, there really is something for everyone here. But is San Diego safe for tourists? Read on to find out more... How Safe is San Diego? Regularly ranked among the 20 safest cities in the country, and named the safest big city in the US by the FBI in 2017, thanks to its lower than national average crime rate, it’s fair to say San Diego is a pretty decent bet for a worry-free vacation. This is a city where violent crime is rare, if not entirely unheard of, and where you’re more likely to get a nasty sunburn than become a victim of crime. So far so safe, but as with most major cities there will always be an element of petty crime such as pickpocketing and bag-snatching, with tourists inevitably providing the easiest pickings for opportunistic thieves. And while Downtown areas are mostly ok, the likes of the East Village does have a slightly higher crime rate than the Gaslamp Quarter or waterfront Embarcadero due to its large number of nightlife venues and other businesses, including the Petco Park stadium, home of the Padres baseball team. To prevent a tiny minority of crooks and criminals from spoiling your trip, you should follow a few basic precautions such as staying alert to shifty looking characters and generally trying not to walk around with a flashing neon sign above your head that alerts would-be thieves to your status as a walking, talking ATM. Tips for Staying Safe in San Diego Opportunists after a quick buck will tend to ply their trade in and around the biggest attractions, especially where crowds of tourists make it easier to become invisible and disappear fast. Avoid being a victim by keeping your wits about you around the likes of San Diego Zoo and Balboa’s Park’s other big hitters, such as the San Diego Museum of Art and Air and Space Museum. San Diego is a party town with bustling street markets in the likes of Hillcrest and Ocean Beach, a thriving nightlife scene and major annual festivals that draw hordes of revelers from around the world, including the annual Oktoberfest, Pride parade, Comic-Con and County Fair. All of these are prone to creating the kinds of crowd that are so beloved of petty crooks. Scams like ‘friendly helpers’ hanging around ATMs or people offering to take a nice souvenir photo of you with your or smartphone may seem obvious, but the element of surprise often pays off as, flustered and embarrassed, you willingly hand over your expensive camera equipment only to look on helplessly as it vanishes into the crowd. In the unlikely event you do lose your valuables to a bag snatcher, scammer or pickpocket, don’t try to give chase – it’s not worth it. Instead, report the incident to police, put it down to experience and try not to let it spoil the rest of your trip. Oh, and make sure you get travel insurance before you go on vacation! It’s also worth remembering that, as long as you take reasonable precautions such as keeping cash and valuables out of sight, being alert to lurkers at ATMs and not falling for obvious scams, it’s likely the worst thing that will happen to you in San Diego is waking up with a sore head after one too many of the city’s famous craft beers. Or coming out in lobster-red blotches after inexpertly applying your sunscreen. Staying Safe in the San Diego Sun San Diego is an outdoorsy kind of city, with a warm Mediterranean climate, some great canyons and nature reserves for hiking, and some of the best beaches in California. So it’s inevitable you’ll spend a fair bit of time in the sunshine, whether baking on La Jolla’s golden sands or exploring the many museums and gardens in sprawling Balboa Park. Simple precautions like slapping on the sunscreen and drinking plenty of water cover most of the bases, but it’s also worth packing a good moisturizer, especially in autumn when the hot, arid Santa Ana winds are at their most punishing. If you’re hitting the beach and feel like cooling off in the water, it’s worth familiarizing yourself with the warning flags and their meanings. Red means no swimming; checkered marks the boundary separating surfing and swimming areas and yellow with a black ball in the center means no surfing. Riptides are not uncommon along this stretch of the California coast so make sure to swim only where there are lifeguards present. In the event you’re caught in a riptide, remember to swim sideways through the water, parallel to the shore, then diagonally towards the beach once free. Above all, stay calm. La Jolla Shores, South Mission Beach and Coronado Central Beach are some of the safest beaches for swimming, especially if you’re traveling with young kids. Nighttime Safety in San Diego San Diego is generally safe at night, even for solo and female travelers. Thanks to good street lighting and visible policing, even the Downtown neighborhood is largely trouble-free. But, like everywhere else, it pays to take sensible precautions such as dropping friends and family a note of your plans if you’re going out alone at night and avoiding trouble hotspots like quiet streets and late-night public transport. San Diego’s nightlife is the stuff of legend. Late-night taprooms and dive bars jockey for position with classy rooftop cocktail joints, comedy clubs and music venues galore. There is, truly, never a dull moment here. Do drink in moderation, especially if you’re on your own, and don’t accept offers of drinks from charming strangers. By all means you should make new friends in this most sociable of cities, but it’s always safer to politely decline the free drink and pay for your own until you’re certain your new pal or pals can be trusted. If they’re genuine, they’re unlikely to be offended. Ideally take a cab home rather than using public transport at night. Apps like Uber and Lyft operate in San Diego, or hail a yellow cab. Check for the San Diego County identification badge and be sure to ask your driver to start the meter when you hop in. Save on things to do in San Diego Save on admission to San Diego attractions with Go City. Check out @GoCity on Instagram and Facebook for the latest top tips and attraction info.
Stuart Bak
Stuart Bak

Have a 5% discount, on us!

Sign up to our newsletter and receive exclusive discounts, trip inspiration and attraction updates straight to your inbox.

Thick check Icon