Category: San Diego

San Diego is a Fantastic Place to Live – 10 Reasons Why

This weekend I saw a query on Twitter from Farhad Manjoo, a technology farhad querywriter for the New York Times.

So I decided to put together a rough list of 10 great things about San Diego.  Here it is.  Have other reasons why San Diego is a great place to live? Shout it out in the comments.  #SDlove

1. San Diego is a beautiful place.  There are beaches, ocean cliffs, mountains, deserts, and hiking trails throughout the city and county.  Per the USDA, which used criteria like “mild, sunny winters, temperate summers, low humidity, topographic variation, and access to a body of water” to evaluate the natural beauty of every county in the continental U.S. San Diego County ranked 8th.  The only other county with a major city in the top 10 was Los Angeles, at 7th.

natural beauty counties map

Pretty map.

2. San Diego-Tijuana is the biggest border metro area in the United States.  The border crossing between San Diego and Tijuana is the busiest land crossing in the world, with an estimated 300,000 crossings per day – over 100 million per year.  Tijuana has a population of about 2 million, creating a cross-border metro area of 5 million.  The impact of Mexican influence be be found strongly throughout San Diego, from the population and family ties to food and language influences.

3. Traffic is very easy and so is parking.  A recent study put San Diego last among the 15 biggest U.S. metro areas for traffic congestion, as measured by hours spent in traffic.  If you’re looking for a spot to park your car the parking spots are likely to be ample and free, whether you’re going to the beach, Balboa Park, one of the many great neighborhoods, or pretty much anywhere.  With the gorgeous weather you should really be biking or walking, but if you are in a car you needn’t worry about traffic.

4. You probably won’t get murdered.  San Diego has the lowest murder rate of the 10 largest U.S. cities, for the fourth consecutive year.  Compared to the most murderous U.S. large city, Philadelphia, San Diego has 15% the rate of murders.

top 10 murder rate

San Diego Union-Tribune graphic (click for link)

5. San Diego has great weather.  You’ve heard it before, you’ll hear it again, and it’s true.  Not much else to say about the weather other than temperate days with light breezes do not get old over time.  Kelly Norton’s sweet map breaks down weather in the U.S. by mean temperature and precipitation and SD is slightly edged out by LA for the top spot.  We’ll take it.

6. The best beer scene in the world. There are currently 115 breweries in San Diego County putting out award-winning beers.  Among them are standouts like Lost Abbey, Stone, Alpine, Modern Times, Port Brewing, Alesmith and many others.  At last week’s Great American Beer Festival San Diego brewers took home 19 medals, about 7% of the total awarded.  There’s a lot of personal opinion involved in naming a “best” city for beer – Portland, Munich, Seattle, and many others could lay claim to the name also.  We don’t want to argue and will happily raise a pint and share the title with other great beer cities. San Diego is certainly in the conversation for the top spot and it’s fun to check out the great stuff on tap around town.

sanders tap keg
Former Mayor Jerry Sanders taps a keg of Karl Strauss beer. #rawk

7. Excellent surfing.  The entire coastline of San Diego is free and open to the public (as it is in the whole of California).  You’ll find a wide range of surfing breaks and good swell exposure.

ocean experience surfing

Ocean Experience offers surfing lessons in Ocean Beach

8. San Diego is sexy.  According to Victoria’s Secret polling, San Diego is the sexiest city in the U.S.  Doesn’t sound like a bad thing.

9. There are an amazing amounts of plants and animals in San Diego.  Per the Nature Conservancy, San Diego is “the most biologically rich county in the continental U.S.”  The county also is home to “approximately 200 imperiled plants and animals—more than in any other county in the nation”.

Enjoy the hike, enjoy the view, preserve it for the future. (planmygetaway.com)

Don’t buy it? No problem.  Just don’t say you weren’t informed that San Diego is a great place to live.

[Where’s number 10? I’m leaving that up to everyone else.  Drop suggestions in comments and I’ll add the best one to the post in the final spot.]

Misty (Cowles) Mountain Climb

Note: I’m adding some old posts from other sites here over time. This post is from April 24, 2015. Enjoy!

——————

Cowles Mountain is a classic San Diego hike.  It’s the highest point in the city limits at 1,594 feet, and is popular every day (and many nights) of the year.  Near to San Diego State University and a number of neighborhoods as well as within close distance to much of the city it’s a great, moderate difficulty hike.  The hiking trails are surrounded by native scrub and there is little shade so it’s typically a hot and somewhat dusty climb with views from the Pacific Ocean to Mexico and into the East County reaches of San Diego County.

Today was a much different story.  Heavy cloud cover and fog along with a light drizzle accompanied our upward hike before clearing once we reached the top.  From the summit there was no view to be had, just a ghostly white backdrop.  We had a couple of visitors from Seattle with us, so perhaps for them it wasn’t so atypical but for the San Diegans on the trip it was a unique experience.

Have a great weekend and cross your fingers for more mist – and rain!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Neighbors Lying About Neighbors – The STR Debate Continues

Below is a Facebook post from an Airbnb host that was shared last night after the Community Planners Committee meeting on the issue of short-term rentals.  I plan to meet with the commenter to get additional details but see little reason to doubt the story below given the amount of details included and don’t see a reason for that person to lie.

I wanted to share this today because it seems that in the debate in San Diego there is much scorn being placed on those hosting via platforms like Airbnb and VRBO.  Few are questioning the validity of complaints about noise, trash, and parties – they are taken at word.  The few times I’ve had to call the police or a towing company they have arrived and addressed the issue promptly and completely.  I find it hard to believe that in the wealthier parts of town (where many of the complaints and anti-STR groups are centered) this would not be the case.

In the below instance you can see the power that this default trust gives to complainants.  I’ve removed specific names from the below post but everything else is verbatim from the host being accused of bad behavior.

I need to know who to write to in order to speak my voice. Three of the speakers lied. I have proof because I’m the big corporation with a water park in my back yard. I’m a mom of 3 whose son has brain cancer so make a wish gave him his wish to have a small waterslide added to the pool already there and I’m called a water park. I rented it out for the summer to pay bills and they knew that but adopted the “not in my neighborhood” signs, harassed me and my family (yes I was the one who broke down in tears talking about it at the PB mtg). All before a single guest arrived. C. harassed every renter and at 2pm in the afternoon when a family came out back and she saw they were not white she left voicemails which I kept with her displeasure. I could go on and on about her C. C. who said he is native and moved here from Texas a few years ago and doesn’t live on the street,etc. Their complaints that they put in writing was a baby cried and one renter dared to have food delivered. I have proof all my renters were families and not parties. I drove by day and night just to make sure. Sorry I had to get that out.

There remains much to be discussed in the STR debate in San Diego but hopefully we can step away from name calling and outright falsities to impugn those we disagree with.

Bike Sexy Debut – Tees Now Available

Excited to announce that I’m working with Ryan Woldt of Socalsessions.com on a project we’ve dubbed “Bike Sexy”.  Basically we think that riding a bike is sexy and we want to encourage people to be loud and proud about it.  Being healthy, having fun, helping the planet, saving some money, connecting with your community – how much better does it get? #bikesexy

Our first Bike Sexy product is a sweet black t-shirt with silver reflective ink.  The material is light combed cotton that is super soft.  You can order online here or hit one of us up personally.

bikesexy t
Awesome shirt for awesome you

Props also to Ryan for last week’s debut of Night Rider, a film produced with Cool Guys Productions giving a view of the joy of biking in San Diego at night.  I’m looking forward to many more video projects highlighting the cultural importance (and fun!) of biking here.  Check out the short film below with great music from local band Dead Feather Moon.

https://vimeo.com/138476195

Bonus thank you to Ryan for putting together the first Undie Bike Ride in San Diego which took place in Pacific Back on September 17th.  Thanks to everyone that came out and hope you had a great time!

Pershing Drive Bicycle Corridor – It’s Go Time

SANDAG is preparing to implement bicycle improvements to Pershing Drive in the near future, creating a safe and functional route from North Park and surrounding communities to Downtown.  This is part of the $200M SANDAG bicycle corridors program which has yet to stripe a single foot of bike lane in the nearly 3 years since being announced.  The first project, running through Hillcrest, gutted the most important segment – an east-west connection to North Park – at the last moment as detailed in this film by Dennis Stein.

Pershing Drive is very different from University Avenue; it lies in a park rather than popular communities.  Pershing Drive is currently a fantastic bicycle connection in many ways.  It runs through the middle of Balboa Park’s open space area.  Heading into town it offers gorgeous views of Los Coronados islands, Coronado Bridge, and Downtown.  It connects the densely populated neighborhoods of Uptown and Mid-City to Downtown.  However, it is also very intimidating to bike on.  The painted lanes are adjacent to high-speed roadways with speed limits of 45-50 MPH (and we all know that 5-10 above that is the likely reality).  Heading into Downtown, cyclists need to cross two separate onramps to Interstate 5, while drivers are ramping up to Interstate speeds. Both onramps lie behind curving corners with limited visibility.

I’ve been writing about the dangers of biking on Pershing Drive since early 2014 and serious injuries continue to accrue.

So how do we best create a functional, safe and protected bicycle corridor on Pershing Drive? Following are a number of specific ideas for what this project should look like.  We should start with context and a general guideline.  This project lies in the heart of Balboa Park – it should connect with and enhance the park, not take away from it.  A guideline that should lead any transport project is to put people first – and that means pedestrians first, bicycles second, public transit third, and private automobile fourth.  This is the hierarchy of preference used by the City of Chicago Department of Transportation and one that San Diego should adopt.

The Pershing Drive bicycle corridor should establish a two-way bike lane and two-way walking / running path adjacent to the Balboa Park golf course on the south / east side of Pershing Drive.  The entry point would be located at Redwood & 28th.  By siting the path on this side of Pershing the major friction points of the I-5 onramps are avoided (which fall under CalTrans purview and would be very difficult to address).  It also presents the opportunity to put those biking or jogging in a shaded and enjoyable place along the roadway.

  • Connect the two halves of Bird Park at the north terminus of Pershing Drive (at 28th Street) and direct traffic either east on Redwood or north on Arnold.  This will add parkland and avoid much of the backup that results from the awkward and overly large intersection now present at that location.
  • Reduce speeds for the entirety of Pershing Drive from the current 45-50 MPH to 35 MPH maximum and 25 MPH within 1,000 feet of the terminus at either end.
  • Add a path for those biking, walking, or jogging along the south side of the Naval Hospital to add a connection from Golden Hill and South Park to Balboa Park, as well as a connection for those traversing the improved Pershing Drive bicycle corridor.
  • Create dedicated and protected space for running / walking / jogging as well as for bicycling.  Pershing Drive runs through the heart of Balboa Park and the context of this project matters.  We should seek to improve the park as a whole with any project lying inside it.  The space for biking and jogging should be protected by a concrete barrier or other substantial method.
  • Reduce Pershing Drive to one travel lane in each direction.  There is one through street that intersects Pershing Drive currently – Florida Drive / 26th Street (the road changes names at the intersection).  Other than this street there are only entry points for service yards and parking lots at the Velodrome and the Morley Field frisbee golf course.  This matters because a prominent reason for back-up on a street can be waiting for an opportunity to turn.  That option is very limited on Pershing Drive, greatly reducing the need for additional traffic lanes.
  • Establish trees on both sides of Pershing Drive as protective barriers for the bicycle lanes (on the south / east side) and for the running paths on the opposite side of the roadway.
  • Establish vines on the high fences adjacent the Balboa Park golf course and a tree line inside the fence on the golf course to provide shade for the bicycle path, better utilize the irrigation on the course, provide privacy for golf course users, and improve the aesthetics of the road for drivers.
  • Utilize a maximum lane width of 10 feet for all travel lanes on Pershing Drive.  Any additional space should be reverted to parkland and narrower traffic lanes will decrease the incentive to speed on the roadway.
  • To connect the Pershing Drive bicycle corridor to adjacent neighbors add additional bicycle infrastructure on adjoining streets.  These include: close Florida Drive to vehicle traffic to restore Florida Canyon while incorporating a biking and walking path.  Add a painted bike line going up 26th Street into Golden Hill – the current road width does not appear to have sufficient space for a lane on both sides and the high speed differential going uphill warrants a lane before one descending onto Pershing or Florida.

Additional details will follow this post, including street sketches and other visuals.  The important thing is to gather community support for real improvements now, and to do so in a constructive way.  This is not about bikes vs. cars – it’s about taking real action about public health, climate change, quality of life, park space.  In general, it’s about making the project area better for all San Diegans.  We cannot afford to let basic, functional bicycle infrastructure get axed in a program specifically designed to create bicycle infrastructure, as happened in Hillcrest.

I would love feedback and criticisms or additional suggestions regarding Pershing Drive.  Please drop them in the comments, social media, or email.  Thank you.

Climate Action Event in San Diego – Notes

On Tuesday evening, September 8, a large group of San Diegans concerned with climate change gathered at the South Park Whistle Stop bar to wet their whistle and enjoying the air conditioning.  It was a very hot day in San Diego breaking records in the region – darkly fitting for a discussion of climate change.

Speakers at the event included City Planning expert Dr. Bruce Appleyard from SDSU and Nicole Capretz, Executive Director of Climate Action Campaign.  The event was organized and emceed by Howard Blackson – a man born to play the role of gregarious host.

Following are selected notes from the meeting – any mistakes are mine, I did my best to takes notes during the event.

Bruce spoke first and stressed the importance of supporting local planners.  There are good plans and talented planners in San Diego but too often they are not supported politcally, undermining the planning work done and resulting in little action on the ground.  Examples include the University Avenue bike corridor project, the Barrio Logan Community Plan, and the Clairemont Trolley station plans.  In each of these cases, and many others, years of planning and community input were scrapped at the eleventh hour.

On the topic of greenhouse gases Bruce noted that each mile of driving a car adds one pound of CO2 to the atmosphere, of which 80% will remain for approx. 200 years.  The remaining 20% will remain for millenia.  Utilizing our natural topography of “mesas, canyons, coastal plains” is critical to reduce our contribution to climate change – specifically our coastal plains.  Our coastal plans are centrally located and connected to transit, which avoids further sprawl and vehicle miles, and also can utilize the natural cooling effect of the Pacific Ocean.  The 30 foot height limit needs to be considered for adjustments if we are to take meaningful steps to leverage our coastal plains.

Nicole started talking by showing the mix of energy used in San Diego – 54% of our total energy usage goes to transportation.  The average driver in San Diego goes about 35 miles a day and 80% of those driving to work do so driving solo.  Climate scientists no longer discuss how to reduce the greenhouses gases in the atmosphere, it’s now about trying to slow the growth of emissions.  We’ve already passed the point of being able to stop severe impacts and many of the projections are downright scary.  With world leading climate research going on at Scripps it’s a shame that San Diego isn’t leading on how to adjust our lifestyles and cities to be more responsible and sustainable.  The city’s Climate Action Plan (which Nicole developed during Todd Gloria’s term as Interim Mayor) gives some hope, but needs to have teeth.  Nicole pointed out some of the areas she views as weak and needing to be adjusted.

Joe LaCava, candidate for Council District 1, gave a few remarks and implored those gathered to join local planning groups.  He noted that planning groups are important and would benefit from the backgrounds and skills of those in attendance.

Chris Taylor, former board member of Bike San Diego, questioned the speakers about how to support our planners and get vetted, community-supported plans to be implemented.  Specifically he asked about the University Avenue bike project and what supporters could have done differently to secure a better outcome.  This was a bit of a general theme of questions and comments – how do we get our on-ground reality to meet our expectations and plans, many of which are quite good.

Suggestions included having better communication to sell planning ideas and to avoid misunderstandings that can cause anger and resentment.  There were a few other suggestions but the ending tone of the meeting seemed to be one of slight dejectedness.  Those assembled are prominent community members in urbanism, sustainability, architecture, etc.  The shared experience of seeing good projects upended at the last moment due to lack of political support or a vocal minority was clearly on the minds of many.  How to create better outcomes going forward remains a challenge to be confronted.  Sustained efforts on education and communication may work, but the best argument doesn’t always win the day.  Hearts and minds need to be won if we are to see broader support for taking on climate change.  The dilution of an ambitious climate-focused law in California this week, SB350, is not a good omen of the current status of hearts and political clout in California.

Renee Yarmy from the San Diego Port Authority noted an upcoming presentation by Gil Penalosa – Creating Great Cities – which will take place on on October 8 at 6:30 PM at the Central Library.  Mr. Penalosa is renowned figure internationally and “over the past 8 years, Gil has worked in over 180 different cities across six continents”.  It should be a fantastic panel and details and registration can be found on here.

climate change event photo - 9-8-2015
Many thanks to Howard Blackson for organizing, and to all those that attended.

North Park – San Diego’s Weak Excuse for a Bike Friendly Place

North Park is an urban neighborhood in San Diego.  It is often cited as the “hipster” area of town and is generally known for being one of the more walkable areas in San Diego.  North Park is home to the only 2 parklets in San Diego, the majority of the bike corrals in the city, and it is not uncommon to see people biking on the streets.

If there is anywhere in San Diego you would expect to find good bicycle infrastructure North Park would be high on the list, perhaps along with East Village, Downtown, Little Italy, or a beach community like Ocean Beach or Pacific Beach.  The reality on the ground is far from good.  The reality is a near absolute lack of any bicycle infrastructure.

Here’s a complete map of all the bike lanes in North Park, highlighted in red.  The gray, white, orange, and red lines indicate all roadways.  There are a total of 2 streets in North Park that have painted bike lanes.  One of them is a portion of El Cajon Boulevard, with cars regularly exceeding 40 and 50 MPH. There are no protective measures for biking anywhere in North Park.  There is no system or grid to bicycle – if you ride on a roadway with a lane you will be forced to connect to another roadway without any dedicated space for biking whatsoever.

north park bike lane mapSan Diego, and particularly North Park, has very wide streets.  There is plenty of room on many of the streets to add bike lanes with the minimal cost and effort of applying paint.  Paint is not protection, but it is much better than no dedicated space at all.  When conflict occurs due to lack of separated space, as on Adams Avenue recently, drivers can literally run over those biking without likelihood of prosecution.

If a place like North Park that is promoted as being a good place to bike or walk has so little accommodation for bikes what does that mean for other areas that are more explicitly car-first?  If our Climate Action Plan rightly targets transportation as a focus area to create a better future, how do we increase biking by a factor of 18 as the plan seeks without facilities to support that growth?  We will not get there without meaningful change on the ground.

A couple of bike lanes in a neighborhood of 50,000 people in the core of our city is not good enough.  It’s barely even laughable as an attempt at being bike and environmentally friendly.  It underlies how unserious we are about moving away from the private automobile as the overwhelming primary transport option.  It is no surprise that so few people bike in San Diego when the reality on the ground is unless you are confident and strong enough to bike with zero accommodation on wide, high speed streets you are out of luck.

Parents, myself included, fret about biking with their children or letting their kids bike to school.  Would you put your child on a bike on University Avenue (where SANDAG just scrapped a plan to add a bike plan) or El Cajon Boulevard?  Or even smaller streets like 32nd Street or Arnold Avenue?  On a recent speed survey on Arnold “City Engineers determined 85% of the traffic was indeed exceeding our 25 mph speed limit by at least 10 mph – one vehicle was going 71 mph – and that test wasn’t even on a Friday or a weekend!”  Quoted portion from North Park Nextdoor website.

Perhaps the good news is we can only improve from our current status.  That is little comfort for those working and fighting to create a safer, healthier future for our neighborhoods and city.  Real support for real improvement is needed from our elected officials and transportation authorities.  Foremost we need leadership from SANDAG to pursue a responsible future path on both transportation and land use – not plans that ignore climate change, encourage sprawl, and commit billions and billions to more highways and scraps for biking, walking, and transport.  Even the scraps committed to healthier transport are back-loaded and likely to be walked back when push comes to shove.

North Park – I dig you.  But bicycle friendly you are not.

2015-04-30 17.23.37
Granada Avenue – 54 feet wide but not an inch for bicycles or crosswalks. Good luck to those that don’t want to drive.

America’s Finest Bicycle Tour – October Debut for New Bike San Diego Event

Multi-day bicycle camping tour highlights natural beauty of San Diego

AmericasFinest_Logo-01
Thanks to A7D of North Park for design work!

Bike San Diego has had a busy year to date, adding many new events like the Beach Side Bike Ride from Old Town to La Jolla in July, the Bike Month Bash along El Cajon Boulevard in May, and the upcoming Bike to the Border ride from Barrio Logan to the Mexico border later this month on September 19.  In October another new event, the biggest for the organization to date, will debut. America’s Finest Bicycle Tour (AFBT), will showcase the natural beauty of San Diego and present an opportunity to connect with fellow participants.

AFBT is a three night bicycle tour of San Diego County with vehicle support for participants.  Vehicle support means that participants won’t have to lug their camping gear or clothes while they ride – their belongings will await them at each day’s destination.  Campsites are provided for each night, as is dinner and breakfast each day.  Food and beverages for the event feature San Diego establishments like Modern Times Beer, City Tacos, Golden Cost Mead, and other great local companies.

The three campsites are Sweetwater Summit, Dos Picos near Ramona, and Carlsbad State Beach – a variety of camping locations that give a broad view of the diversity of topography and climate present in San Diego.  Below is a map of the route, click through for a dynamic map you can manipulate for additional detail.

afbt map
2015 Inaugural AFBT Route

Cost for the event is $205 through September 26, increasing to $255 thereafter.  There is limited capacity for the event so interested parties are encouraged to register early to ensure a spot.  All proceeds benefit Bike San Diego, an organization working to “establish San Diego as a world-class bicycling city and create a more livable urban community by promoting everyday riding and advocating for bicycling infrastructure.”

For more details and to register see the official website – bikesandiegocounty.org.  For inquiries or questions please contact event organizer Tim Stempel at tim@bikesandbeers.org.

AmericasFinest_Poster

 

Airbnb Not Typically Allowed in Apartments

As the Airbnb debate continues in San Diego, I found it interesting to receive a warning letter from my previous apartment manager, Torrey Pines Property Management this week informing tenants that using sites like Airbnb is not allowed in the buildings they manage.  I contacted Torrey Pines and was informed that this is a proactive measure to avoid issues in future, not in response to issues that have occurred.  Good for them for taking a proactive, informative approach to the issue.

I wanted to share this since there are likely many San Diegans that would like to utilize sites like Airbnb to rent a spare room, or their apartment while they are out of town.  If you rent a property, or live in a building or community with an HOA it is important to check the terms or covenants, conditions, and restrictions before trying to host a guest on these platforms.  Note that this may also be the case even if you’re not receiving money by using a site like HomeExchange or Couchsurfing.

In addition to issues with your landlord, renting a room in your apartment or home is currently illegal in the City of San Diego and you may be liable for tens of thousands of dollars in fines as a woman in Burlingame has found out.  To date, this is the only penalty of this sort in San Diego but the Code Enforcement Division will be responding to complaints about this sort of use in the future and I assume pursuing violators with the same vigor as the Burlingame case.  Per conversations with Code Enforcement any enforcement will be complaint-driven – they won’t be using the publicly accessible information on sites like Airbnb and VRBO to identify potential violations.

If your lease doesn’t allow you to host on Airbnb but you think it would be beneficial try talking to your landlord.  Some landlords are willing to allow the use if you agree to take liability for any issues caused or may be willing to allow it for an increase in your rent payments.  I know a couple of people personally using this approach, and in San Francisco it worked out for a couple as well.

From SFGate:

Kelsey and Mike Sheofsky achieved that balance. The couple travel frequently for Shelter Co., their luxury-camping business. They had dabbled with the idea of listing their Mission District house on Airbnb. Then their landlord approached them.

“She said, ‘What do you think about Airbnb-ing your place when you’re gone?’ ” Kelsey Sheofsky said. “I thought, ‘Perfect, we’re ready to go.’ Now we do it, and we give her a 20 percent cut of any money we make after cleaning expenses. Some months we give her an extra 600 bucks.”

Your landlord may or may not be open to Airbnb – make sure you are informed and if you have a question make sure to ask.

2015-07-05 06.10.36
Our most recent Airbnb stay was in Budapest adjacent the Opera House.

Below is the letter from Torrey Pines in full.

Dear Resident(s):

The increasingly popular site airbnb.com where individuals can post short-term, vacation rentals is a growing concern for Landlords in San Diego due to the noise, strain on resources, and lack of regard for the property that comes from using any residence as a “Hotel” or “Bed and Breakfast”.

We would like to take this opportunity to remind our valued Residents that posting your apartment on this, or a similar site is considered a breach of contract and could result in legal action including eviction from the premises.

We take this matter very seriously and will be moving forward with legal action should your unit be located on a listing site for the purpose of subletting without our expressed written consent. Please contact your Property Manager if you have any questions or wish to report suspect or known violations.

Sincerely,

Torrey Pines Property Managment, Inc.
(858) 454-4200
www.torreypinespm.com

Santa Cruz Cove – A Great Ocean Beach Spot

Waves coming in at main swimming spot.
Santa Cruz Cove is a lovely small beach in OB.

Ocean Beach is one of my favorite neighborhoods in San Diego.  It’s where our family typically goes for beach trips and I recommend it as a great place to visit for all our friends and family from out of town.  Recently I rediscovered a great pocket beach in Ocean Beach at the foot of Santa Cruz Street, dubbed “Santa Cruz Cove”.  Officially, the beach is known as Santa Cruz Avenue Beach but I like the Cove version better.

The beach is a great spot to take our young children due to the wide variety of natural elements present.  There are two separate sand beach areas with waves that are mostly gentle and the ocean floor has a gradual slope so you can swim out and remain in mostly shallow water.  Tide pools are present with a variety of anemones, crabs, snails, and other small wildlife.  There are rocks to climb (and jump off of) and you can adventure north or south along the coast for more exploring.  If you enjoy the sound of waves crashing it’s a great place since the cliffs rise quickly behind the beaches, amplifying the sound.

There are typically not many people at Santa Cruz Cove so it’s also a good place for sunbathing, reading, or taking a nap.

The main negatives are that there is not a public restroom near (the closest is the lifeguard tower north of the pier) and there can be trash issues at times.

To reach Santa Cruz Cove walk south a few blocks along the ocean from the Ocean Beach Pier or descend the steps at the terminus of Santa Cruz Avenue.  (You can use 5098 Santa Cruz Avenue, San Diego, CA 92107 as your search address if using GPS or a mapping app.)

Have a great day and I hope you enjoy your visit to a great beach in San Diego!