Added: 05/15/2006 |
Enjoy San Diego beach's freewheeling character whith a great San Diego beach vacation.Relatively free from smog and byzantine freeways, SAN DIEGO , set around a gracefully curving bay, represents the acceptable face of southern California. The second biggest city in California may be affluent and conservative, but it's also easygoing and far from smug. Although it was the site of the first mission in California, the city only really took off with the arrival of the Santa Fe Railroad in the 1880s, and in terms of trade and significance it has long been in the shadow of Los Angeles. However, during World War II the US Navy made San Diego its Pacific Command Center, and the military continues to dominate the local economy, along with tourism. With its mix of laid-back libertarians and military-minded conservatives, San Diego embodies both work-hard and play-hard lifestyles.
San Diego, California, features some of the best beaches in the world... Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, La Jolla, Coronado, Del Mar, and North County beaches like Encinitas and Carlsbad. Sunny days and mild, year-round weather make San Diego beache an ideal place for your vacation.
North of Ocean Beach, you come to Mission Bay and San Diego's most popular tourist attraction. Exhibits and events at Sea World range from "performances" by killer whales and dolphins to the eerie sight of the heads of hundreds of moray eels protruding from the hollow rocks of the "Forbidden Reef." Sharks circle menacingly in the Shark House; the Penguin Exhibit is a mock Antarctica; the Wild Arctic exhibit simulates the North Pole with polar bears and walruses; and the Manatee Rescue provides a close-up glimpse of the white, bulbous freshwater herbivores.
Anyone of a nervous disposition, or with a physique inappropriate for bathing apparel, might find nearby Mission Beach - the peninsula that separates Mission Bay from the Pacific Ocean - and its seamless northern extension, Pacific Beach , an intimidating spot, with scads of scantily clad torsos and surfboard-clutching hunks. Despite first impressions, though, the city authorities are endeavoring to limit its anarchic hedonism - more families are using the area, but little impact has been made on the beach's freewheeling character.
A more pretentious air prevails in La Jolla (always "la-hoya"), an elegant San Diego beach community just to the north that mystery writer Raymond Chandler once described as "a nice place - for old people and their parents." Stroll its immaculate, gallery-filled streets, fuel up on some California cuisine at one of the many sidewalk cafes or visit the La Jolla site of the Museum of Contemporary Art , which has a huge - and regularly changing - stock of paintings and sculptures from 1955 onwards, with California pop and minimalism some of the highlights. On the seaward side of the museum lies the small, exquisitely tasteful Ellen Scripps Browning Park , named after the philanthropist whose Irving Gill-designed home now houses the museum. Where the park meets the coast is the popular La Jolla Cove , with clear waters perfect for snorkeling, as long as you can secure a parking space.
To help you plan your vacation, Enlightened Explorer Travel has compiled information about San Diego beach destinations. Think of them as a virtual travel guide that's packed with information about everything you need to know to plan a great San Diego beach vacation.
San Diego Beaches.com is another resource, that will assist you with a variety of travel planning services. Here you'll find the best San Diego hotels in the best locations and will buy discounted tickets for San Diego's major attractions.
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