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San Diego is one of the best cities on the Pacific Coast to go for a beach vacation. The weather is almost always perfect for spending time on the beach. It’s hot enough to enjoy the relatively warm Pacific Coast ocean water with activities like surfing and swimming. And yet it’s not excessively hot so you’ll also be comfortable just lounging in the sun with a good book and a few snacks. For people seeking specific kinds of beaches, such as dog beaches or clothing-optional beaches, San Diego has its niches. And for those who are just looking for a great beach near their accommodations, there are many to choose from. Following you’ll find more information about some of the top beaches in San Diego.

General San Diego Beaches. Most people who are looking for a beach in San Diego aren’t seeking anything special. They just want a basic great beach with good waves and a terrific time. Any of the following beaches would suit those people although each is a little different from the others:

• La Jolla Shores. There are two different La Jolla Beaches that might be recommended to the San Diego visitor. La Jolla Shores is the northern beach of the two. It’s a small one-mile long stretch of beach that is popular because the waves here are gentler than anywhere else in San Diego. That has caused it to be a popular beach for people seeking to take SCUBA diving classes. It is also the only place on the San Diego coast where boats can launch from the beach so people who are getting out on the water by boat come here to do that. There are also some great attractions in the nearby area such as the Steven Birch Aquarium.
• La Jolla Cove. The southern of the two La Jolla beaches is this little cove area. It’s said to be one of the most oft-photographed beaches in San Diego because of the beautiful sandstone cliffs that line the beach here. The water here is relatively calm so this is another place where people go diving although it’s preferred by more advanced divers in comparison with La Jolla Shores. There’s a picnic area here so people frequently spend the day shopping in the La Jolla urban area and then come here for a picnic on the beach.
• Children’s Pool. Families come to this San Diego Beach for obvious reasons; it’s a partially protected part of the ocean that is designed to be safe for young swimmers. However, it’s also a place that families come to see the sea lions that are frequently spotted in this part of San Diego. It should be noted that there are offshore reefs here that are popular with divers but are considered a more dangerous part of the beach for young swimmers.
• Windansea Beach. There are many different beaches in San Diego where people go to surf but this is frequently said to be the best of the surfing beaches in the city. It has the highest waves throughout most of the year and is a spot where numerous well-known surfers have come to show off their skills. Named for a hotel that burned down in the area in the first half of the twentieth century, this beach is associated with some rich history for the area and is a spot of interest for many tourists as a result.

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• Pacific Beach. In terms of tourist beaches, this one is the most popular. It’s got a boardwalk where visitors can enjoy rollerblading and other typical beach activities. There is also a popular pier, Crystal Pier, where much activity takes place. Pacific Beach is one of the few beaches that stays just as busy at night as it is during the day due in no small part to the fact that much of San Diego’s best nightlife is located near this beach.
• Mission Beach. This is another popular San Diego beach which also has a boardwalk for rollerblading and bicycling. A group of trick skaters performs here on the weekends and has begun to draw a lot of attention from both locals and visitors. For the adventurous, there is also a roller coaster in the vicinity. There’s also ample opportunity to be lazy sunbathing on the beach here so it’s the ideal beach for many different types of people. This general area extends into several other beaches including Mission Bay Beach to the north and South Mission Beach to the south.
• Coronado Beach. Outside of San Diego city limits but within the county is one of the best-known beaches in the country, Coronado Beach. It is the location of the famous Hotel del Coronado, a resort area that was constructed in the nineteenth century and which remains one of the most luxurious resorts in the San Diego area today.

Niche-Interest San Diego Beaches. Perhaps you’re not just looking for a nice beach to hang out and enjoy the sand-and-surf. Perhaps you’re looking more specifically for a type of beach that isn’t common. Here are some of the things that you might be looking for and where to find them in San Diego.

Nude Beaches. There are two different clothing-optional beaches in San Diego for those people who don’t want to deal with tan lines after a day out in the sun. The first nude beach, San Onofre, is located in the northern part of the region just outside of Orange County. There are no nude beaches in Los Angeles or Orange County so many of the people that you’ll find at San Onofre are coming from this part of the state. This lends a different vibe to the area – trendier, more Hollywood-oriented – than you’d expect from most San Diego beaches. The other San Diego nude beach, Blacks, is further south and is the one enjoyed by San Diego locals. This beach is frequently a place of controversy as there are plenty of people in the city that don’t want a nude beach to be allowed there. However, despite some problems, it’s remained a fairly peaceful nude beach for people of this nature to enjoy. If that’s your thing, this is your beach; be respectful.

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Dog Beaches. If you’ve got a puppy pal that you want to bring along with you to the beach, then you’re probably going to want to know in advance with of San Diego’s beaches is dog friendly. The most obvious choice is to go to Dog Beach, the part of Ocean Beach which is considered to be the best of the dog-friendly beaches in the city. However, since it’s a popular beach, it’s a crowded beach. If you’d like a quieter dog-friendly beach, your best bet is to try Mission Beach which isn’t quite as nice as far as beaches go but it’s a good spot for dogs to run free.

Tips for Enjoying San Diego’s Beaches

San Diego has a laidback “beach bum” attitude in many ways so you’ll find that there are a lot of people on the beach who are playing Frisbee or banging on bongos. If you’re a friendly type of person, you can easily join your way into one of those groups (using common sense as far as meeting strangers goes). If not, find a place on the beach to enjoy for yourself. Make sure to drink lots of water and wear that sunscreen because the San Diego heat doesn’t always feel burning but the sun is bad for your body nevertheless.

Tags: Beach | beaches | California | North America | San Diego | travel | United States | vacation