CITY GUIDE:
° PreParty
° PubClubbing
° Gaslamp Nightlife
° Post Party
° Restaurants and dining
° Photo Essay

TIP JAR:
- Pacific/Mission Beach
- Del Mar/La Jolla/North County
- Street Scene
- Baja Border Towns

NO LAST CALL!
° Home Page
° Sign up to be a "PubClubber"

Photos and text detailing what to do in San Diego, from the beaches to Balboa Park, shopping, sportfishing to surfing and more.

Welcome to San Diego's Attractions Guide!
The Balboa Park outdoor pipe organ comes to life each Sunday afternoon.

With spectacular weather and instant coastal access, there is a mind-boggling amount of activities to see and do in and around San Diego.

Primarily, this is an outdoor paradise. Walking, running, rollerblading, boating, kayaking, biking and surfing are favorite pastimes of locals. A few excellent running, walking and rollerblading areas are the Strand in Pacific/Mission beach, Balboa Park and a waterfront path in Coronado (take the first exit off the bridge). Top surf spots are in PB and, for experts, the peak at Windansea Beach in LaJolla by the houses just south of the park (locals can be quite protective). There is jetskiing and other water activities, primarily in and around Mission Bay and there are also close to 100 golf courses in the area.

San Diego is a huge sailing community, not just for weekenders but professionals. The 1988 America's Cup was here and many top competitions have been conducted since.

This is a much better sports participation town than it is a sports watching city. Baseball's Padres and football's Chargers are pro franchises but they rarely make the playoffs and just don't inspire the same kind of die-hard loyalty as, say, the Red Sox or Raiders (hey,the sun will be out tomorrow regardless of a win or a loss!). The 2004 opening of Petco Park has made the vibrant Gaslamp area even more vibrant. Tickets are $5 (standing room only) to $55 (though we're hearing complaints of some obstructed views). There's even a place to get a distant view outside the stadium, called Park on the Park ($5 game days, free others, mostly for families).

While San Diego State is one of our Top Party Schools, it plays in the WAC and can hardly be considered a major college sports institution.

We love Balboa Park. Located less than 10 minutes east of downtown (accessible by city buses) it's one of the most beautiful places in the city. The buildings are magnificent – Spanish-style masterpieces that seem to be standing at attention against that brilliant blue sky. Most are museums (the Visitor's Center sells a Passport which covers all the museums for a week) and there is also a trio of tiny playhouses and an outdoor pipe organ with free concerts every Sunday at 2 p.m.. For food, there are sandwich shops, a Japanese Tea Garden next to the organ serving rice dishes with a great patio and The Prado for finer dining and cocktails. If you brought your pup, there's a dog lawn. It's not difficult to spend an entire afternoon in Balboa Park with or without visiting the museums.

We all know about the world-famous San Diego Zoo, which was put on the map in the '70s when animal expert Joan Embry made regular appearances on the Tonite Show with Johnny Carson. It is part of Balboa Park.

On the other side of downtown, across the bridge that spans the bay, is the quiet, upscale community of Coronado. Part military and part Beverly Hills, Coronado Island is a peninsula (well, it was originally an island) that is home to the Hotel Del Coronado. This all-wood structure, known locally simply as "Hotel Del" or "the Del," is a step back in time. Its gorgeous grounds have hosted celebrities, politicians and hundreds of wedding parties but anyone is welcome to stroll around, pose for pictures or peer into the exclusive shops in the mini-mall. Hey, is that Marlyn Monroe at the pool? More affordable shopping and eating in Coronado can be found all along Orange Ave. But the peninsula's most spectacular spots are its wide beach and the ferry landing at 1st and Orange for the best view of downtown San Diego.

That massive land mass poking into the Pacific that seems to practically wrap itself around Coronado and the airport is Point Loma. A huge cliff, at its peak it provides a bird's eye view of the city and Lindbergh Field. There is a lighthouse and information center with a small but good museum recounting the founding of San Diego by Portuguese explorer Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo in 1542 ($5 and take a sweatshirt or jacket because it gets windy and chilly). Known as the Cabrillo National Monument and Cabrillo National Park, it has a road down to the beach and tidepools as well as a walking path to the sea. It's hard to believe, but just a few miles down the road from this high perch the landscape is completely flat at Ocean Beach.

There's all sorts of shopping in San Diego. Horton Plaza (left), at the edge of the Gaslamp Quarter, is a maze of an outdoor mall with 150 fairly upscale retailers. The parking lot is even more confusing than the mall, so be sure and write down the fruit designation of the garage and level number of you parking spot (despite its quirk, the garage is a great downtown parking spot. Any retailer, even the newspaper stand, validates for three hours). There are also some good bargains around the corner on Broadway and more spots in the Gaslamp. Seaport Village, a very pleasant 10-15 minute walk from downtown, is full of shops, restaurants and, of course, tourists. There's a small park that runs between the yachts and the Marriott with a wide sidewalk that is popular among runners and bicyclers.

Cultural activities can be found with the San Diego Opera and Broadway/San Diego; the Westgate Hotel has a special Apres Theater Dining Menu before and after shows in it's Cafe Westgate and Plaza Bar.

Naturally, San Diego's location to the ocean means there is some serious sportfishing in these waters. Boats are at H&M Landing, Fisherman's Landing and Seaforth Landing, all in the Point Loma area.

Day fishers can catch red snapper and such, but serious anglers head out to sea for gamefish. Tuna, dorado and yellowtail are hunted down about 8-9 hours from shore on overnight sleep-aboards; boats leave at 9 p.m., and return the next night around 7. They go 50-80 miles out, traditionally into Mexican waters but not a hardfast rule, for fishing from daybreak until early afternoon. The cost is $175 for a "limited load" of 25 or so and $125 for the "party boat" of up to 28 anglers, novices and veterans alike. The good season is based on water temperature (warmer is better) which is Spring, Summer and Fall.

San Diego is less than a half-hour from the Baja, Mexican border and there is plenty of fun there for a day or night. Tijuana has tons of bars, restaurants and stores lining Avenida Revolucion and has a reputation for rowdiness, especially among the college-age crowd. It's also a god place to get unbelievable deals on clothes, boots, furniture, pottery, etc. Rosarito– where much of Titanic was filmed – and Ensenada are just down the coast. For more, see PubClub's guide to the Baja Border Towns. For those who have never been to Mexico, we highly recommend reading our orientation guide. Late-night revelers beware: The last San Diego Trolley leaves at 1 a.m., and the next one isn't until 4:45.

For specific activities in Del Mar, La Jolla and beyond, see our North County guide. For the place by the Pacific full of young and fun locals, we also have a guide to Pacific Beach.

San Diego Restaurant and Dining Guide