The Beaches of San Diego

A beach is never just a beach, much like chocolate isn’t just chocolate and a person isn’t just a person. Beaches have their own flavor and personality. And just as a family with lots of kids, the more you have, the more discrete the personalities. San Diego’s are a good-sized family of sand. So grab your sunscreen and a big bottle of water and let’s find the right beach for you!

North to South: 
Blacks
La Jolla
Pacific Beach (PB)
Mission Beach
Ocean Beach (OB)
Coronado Beach/Island
Imperial Beach (IB)

Blacks
There are two features exclusive to this beach: a glideport for hangliders and a nudebeach for naked people. Fortunately, as far as I know, nobody hanglides naked. Officially called Torrey Pines City/State Beach, the location is the reason for its special claims to fame. The glideport is at the top of 300 foot cliffs and offers a picturesque if daunting precipice for launching. Those same tall cliffs afford a privacy for the nude sunbathers who enjoy more the freedom of uncovered skin than the oogling of bystanders—not to say that some don’t enjoy both. But what really makes this beach great to locals is the surf. Surfers trek down the steep, winding cliffs (and by the time they get to the water every muscle in their body is loose, ready and sweating) to find some of the best surf in San Diego. Once on the beach, it’s a beautiful walk that seems more a distant tropical paradise than the edge of a major American metropolis. The difficult-to-get-to Blacks Beach is an adventure worth exploring—just don’t take small children that like to point.