Robert Arends (619) 557-2834

Rober t Ar e nds (619) 557-2834 r ar e nds@sa ndie go.or g Candic e Eley (619) 557-2889 c e le y@sandie go.or g Sar ah We inbe r g (619) 557-2838 swe inbe r g@sandie go.or g Edna Gutier re z (619) 557-2887 e gutier re z@san die go.or g Tw itter @VisitSD_ PR www .sandie go.or g

FEBRUARY 2010 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

A BEACH LOVER'S GUIDE TO SAN DIEGO

If “life’s a beach,” then San Diego is the place to experience life to the fullest.

Whether you wish to swim, surf, snorkel, play volleyball or just lie in the sun, there’s a stretch of sand for you along San Diego’s 70 miles of coastline.

Offering a variety of unique settings, from the white sandy shores of Coronado

Beach to the dramatic sandstone cliffs of Torrey Pines State Park, it doesn’t take long for

San Diego visitors to fall in love with this oceanfront paradise. The majority of San

Diego’s beaches offer lifeguard services, restroom facilities and barbecue pits, while the more remote beaches offer greater solitude and adventure.

Starting north and moving south down the coastline, following is a glimpse into

San Diego’s magnificent shores.

OCEANSIDE  Located within a 45-minute drive of downtown San Diego, Oceanside offers the 1,942-ft. Oceanside Pier, the longest wooden municipal pier on the U.S. West Coast, and is home of both the California Surf Museum (www.surfmuseum.org) and Annual World Body Surfing Championship (www.worldbodysurfing.org), which is held each summer.

 3.5 miles of pristine beaches invite sun-seekers to surf, boogie board, throw Frisbees or dive for volleyballs in the soft white sand. Along Oceanside’s beachside strand, pedestrians, runners and inline skaters position for space.  The northern tip of Oceanside’s shoreline starts at the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, where a soft sand blanket stretches 500 feet inland from the ocean, making it ideal for vigorous recreational activities and military training.  Southward are busy Harbor Beach, Oceanside’s largest beach; family-friendly Breakwater Way Beach, and the ample sands of Pier View North and Pier View South with their popular surfing and fishing spots.  Next in line are Tyson Street Beach, favored for its adjoining, wide grassy playing field, and Wisconsin Street Beach, which is often frequented by scuba divers.  Oceanside Boulevard is ideal for swimmers and body surfers, and Buccaneer Beach, located at the city’s southern limits, offers a jungle gym, basketball court, picnic facilities, snack bar and showers, and is perfect for family outings.

CARLSBAD  Within Carlsbad State Beach are popular surf spots to the north like Tamarack, located near its namesake street; Warm Water Jetty, identified by its proximity to the large Electric Power Plant, and Terramar, which lies close to a lagoon.

 South Carlsbad State Beach, or Ponto as it’s often referred, is the perfect location for beachside camping. The beach’s campground offers 220 sites for tents and RVs, and the area’s calm waters are perfect for swimming and boogie boarding.

LEUCADIA  Leucadia encompasses two beautiful beach parks, Leucadia State Beach and Encinitas County Beach. These secluded sandy areas are often overlooked and rarely heard of by anyone but Leucadia's principal beach users – surfers who ride the waves in the area’s three popular surf spots, Grandview, Beacon's and Stone Steps.

ENCINITAS  Made famous by the Beach Boys’ hit song “Surfin’ USA,” the Encinitas’ Swami Beach is one of San Diego County’s prime surf spots. Big waves break off the narrow, cobblestone-strewn beach challenging experienced surfers, while snorkelers and scuba divers explore a fascinating underwater preserve nearby. Although swimming and sunbathing are impractical here, a staircase that leads from the cliffs to the beach offers great views of daredevil surfers below and the surrounding area’s magnificent scenery.  A half-mile from downtown Encinitas is Moonlight State Beach, one of the loveliest coastal parks in San Diego County. Great surfing, sunning, picnicking and three volleyball beach courts add to the fun. SOLANA BEACH  Unlike other spots in San Diego’s North County where the wide, straight beaches are uninterrupted for miles, the coastline in Solana Beach is more convoluted and the cliffs stretch right to the water's edge. Fortunately, staircases descend the cliffs at practically every street corner, so every part of the beach is accessible vertically, if not horizontally.

 The area’s five main spots from north to south include Seaside, a good surf spot with an outer reef called Table Tops that breaks on big southwest swells; Tide Beach, with great sand for building castles and a patch of reef that offers tidepooling; Fletcher Cove, another popular surf spot, and Seascape Beach and Del Mar Shores, both located on the north side of the San Dieguito River mouth.

CARDIFF BY THE SEA  Families, surfers, kayakers and body surfers throng to Cardiff State Beach and Elijo State Beach, which edge Cardiff by the Sea. A day at the seashore here can also include some bird-watching or a nature walk at the nearby San Elijo Lagoon ecological reserve.

DEL MAR  A San Diego North County favorite for swimmers, walkers, surfers and grunion hunters, Del Mar City Beach provides easy access for locals and visitors to its wide sandy shore. Nearby, Seagrove and Powerhouse Parks are favored for their kids’ playgrounds and expansive grassy fields ideal for picnicking, volleyball, Frisbee playing and other fun activities.

TORREY PINES  Located just south of Del Mar is one of San Diego’s greatest treasures, Torrey Pines State Reserve. Untamed, rugged and serene, the Reserve is a wilderness oasis where one feels far removed from downtown San Diego, located just 15 minutes away.  Below Torrey Pines’ 300-foot cliffs lies Black’s Beach, a two-mile-long sandy strip popular for surfing and sunbathing. Although nudism is not officially sanctioned here, Black’s Beach is also popular for sunbathing in the buff. Torrey Pines Gliderport (www.flytorrey.com) is located atop the majestic cliffs overlooking the beach where hang gliders, paragliders and remote controlled gliders can often be seen soaring along the shore. Due to the high cliffs, access to Black’s Beach is challenging, and in turn offers greater solitude for the adventurous beachgoer. LA JOLLA  The seaside town of La Jolla and its shore do justice to its designation as “the jewel” of San Diego. Nowhere are beaches more versatile than in this quaint upscale community, which is one of San Diego’s most popular neighborhoods.  La Jolla Shores is a quiet and intimate enclave of lovely homes, spectacular scenery and a spacious beach that slopes gently into the waves. Recognized as one of the most family-friendly beaches in San Diego County, the mile-long sandy shore is paralleled by a wide cement boardwalk that separates the beach from a large grassy park, ideal for picnicking and volleyball games.

Kayaking is popular along La Jolla Shores, as guests can paddle during low tide to La Jolla Caves to the south and Scripps Pier to the north. Between the two is the La Jolla Underwater Park and Ecological Preserve, a popular recreational area for scuba divers and snorkelers. Scuba divers and snorkelers can explore the Preserve in some of California’s clearest coastal waters where visibility often exceeds 30 feet.  Lifeguards watch over families splashing in the rocky shallows off La Jolla Cove, a small patch of sand tucked between weather-sculpted sandstone cliffs. Buoys dot the waters between the Cove and Shores beaches, marking the route of La Jolla’s Annual Rough Water Swim, held each September, and guiding other hardy ocean swimmers year-round. This area, together with the grassy expanse and breathtaking views of Scripps Park above La Jolla Cove, is the favorite subject of photographers and painters from around the world.  Just south of La Jolla Cove is the Children’s Pool, a small picturesque beach with a panoramic view, partially protected by a large seawall. The Pool’s original intent was to be a fully-protected swimming area for children, but sand has filled in much of the area inside the wall. Today, the beach is popular for numerous sea lions that have made this beach their home; Seal Rock, a reserve for these marine mammals, is located just offshore.  Continuing south, Windansea Beach is best known for its beautiful scenery and hard-breaking surf that breaks right at the shoreline due to huge underwater reefs. Sunbathing is popular here, as large sandstone rocks act as partitions along the shore to create a secluded setting. Windansea is also home to a legendary Polynesian-style surf hut, built in 1947 by pioneer Windansea surfers. Registered as a San Diego Historic Site, the hut provides shade and an excellent vantage point for watching the surfers and sunbathers below. PACIFIC AND MISSION BEACHES  The favorite hangouts of active young sun-worshipers, Pacific Beach and Mission Beach are connected by a three-mile boardwalk crowded with inline skaters, skateboarders, runners and bikers – and beachgoers just wanting "to be seen." The surrounding streets, boutiques, restaurants and bars of these oceanfront communities bustle with activity day and night.

 Adjacent to Mission Beach is Belmont Park, featuring its vintage “Giant Dipper” roller coaster, “The Plunge” giant indoor swimming pool, amusement arcades and the Wave House with San Diego’s only FlowRide, a simulated surfing platform with a non-stop wave. www.belmontpark.com  By early morning, the wide sandy beaches of Pacific Beach and Mission Beach become a colorful patchwork of towels, umbrellas and radios, with swimmers, surfers, body surfers and kayakers dotting the blue Pacific. Both beaches feature designated areas for surfing and swimming.

OCEAN BEACH  Ocean Beach, home to the Ocean Beach Pier, is a large sandy beach offering surfing, swimming, volleyball and other recreational activities. During large Pacific winter storms, hundreds of spectators gather along the beach’s seawall to watch the huge waves break against the top of the Pier. During calm seas, fishing, walking and dining are popular atop the wooden structure.

POINT LOMA  Recognized more for its surfing and scenery than its beaches, Sunset Cliffs features numerous surfing spots that can be somewhat hazardous and not recommended for beginners. The jagged cliffs and rocky bottom make getting to the water extremely difficult; the area attracts only the most daring surfers performing in the big surf. The combination of the surfer’s fear and excitement makes a thrilling show for spectators who watch from the cliffs above.

CORONADO  Coronado Beach, a 1.5-mile strip across from San Diego Bay, between the Hotel del Coronado and Naval Air Station North Island, is an aquatic wonderland for swimmers, surfers, sunbathers and the nation’s military elite. Recognized for many years by the Travel Channel as “one of the 10 best family beaches in North America,” and picked as “Best Beach in the United States” by Dr. Beach in 2012, Coronado Beach is a vast expanse of white sand, surrounded by opulent mansions and populated every morning by families toting gear for an all-day stay. Recreational activities abound with impromptu football games, paddleball and sandcastle building. Kites are flown at the southern end of the beach, while the area behind the lifeguard station is reserved for volleyball games.  Silver Strand State Beach, a narrow, sandy strip that runs along a seven-mile isthmus connecting Coronado and Imperial Beach, offers swimming, shell- collecting, biking and a popular RV facility. Sandwiched between the ocean and San Diego Bay, the Silver Strand was named from the tiny silver shells that cover its shoreline.

IMPERIAL BEACH  Imperial Beach features a wide stretch of sand, challenging surf conditions and beautiful pier views. Swimming and surfing are offered in designated areas, and leashed dogs are permitted on some parts of the beach and a nearby park. DOG BEACHES  With their own beaches, dogs get plenty of exercise and playtime in the surf. On a typical day, dozens of dogs can be seen rolling in the sand, splashing in the waves and making new friends at Dog Beach in Del Mar, where off-leash season runs from September 15 through June 15. At Dog Beaches in Coronado and Ocean Beach, man’s best friends are permitted to roam leash-free 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Ocean Beach even features a custom dual-level drinking fountain – one spout for dogs and another for their owners.

Happiness is calling in San Diego. For more information on San Diego’s offerings, including exciting vacation packages and valuable coupons for attractions, restaurants and more, visit the San Diego Tourism Authority’s website at www.sandiego.org.

“Funded in part by the San Diego Tourism Marketing District with City of San Diego Tourism Marketing District Assessment Funds.”