San Diego coast

Where to go

Loading the coast reading.

The pick uses one coast reading, not a different forecast for each beach. Swell under 2 feet and wind under 12 mph: La Jolla Shores, because it is the gentle swim beach. Bigger swell: Mission Beach, because the sand is wide and you are not standing under a closed pier. A high tide gets a warning, not a different beach. La Jolla Cove and Sunset Cliffs are never the swim pick. This page does not score the surf, and it does not know if the water is clean.

The Ocean Beach Pier at sunset, a long concrete pier on pilings over wet sand and rocks.

Ocean Beach

Wide surf beach at the end of Newport Avenue. Dog Beach, at the north end, is the city beach where dogs are allowed. The pier in this photo has been closed since October 2023. The city still lists it closed, and planned for replacement. The beach is open.

Photo by Jon Sullivan, public domain. Wikimedia Commons.

The white cottage arch on Crystal Pier, with a California flag and an American flag, palm trees behind it.

Pacific Beach

Crystal Pier is the white cottage arch at the end of Garnet Avenue. The city lists the pier as closed for repairs. The sand on either side is open.

Photo by Hombre del rio, September 2014, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The white and red Giant Dipper roller coaster at Belmont Park, Mission Beach.

Mission Beach

Long beach beside the boardwalk, at Mission Boulevard. This photo is the Giant Dipper at Belmont Park, not the water. The ocean is the other side of the boardwalk.

Photo by Roman Eugeniusz, March 2016, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Lifeguard tower 32 on the wide sand at La Jolla Shores, with the bluffs to the south.

La Jolla Shores

Gentle slope, the swim beach, at the end of Avenida de la Playa. Lifeguard tower 32 is in this photo. Scripps Pier is at the south end. The tide on this page comes from that pier.

Photo by Avi Richards, April 2017, CC0. La Jolla Shores Beach.

Sandstone caves under a green wooden shelter and a row of palm trees at La Jolla Cove.

La Jolla Cove

Rocky cove on Coast Boulevard, below the palms and the green shelter. People snorkel here. Sea lions haul out on the rocks and the pocket beach. Give them room. This is not a wide swim beach. Do not jump from the cliffs.

Photo by Kosigrim, public domain. La Jolla Cove.

A wide sandy beach with small waves, the red-roofed Hotel del Coronado, and white towers down the shore.

Coronado

Wide ocean beach on Ocean Boulevard. The red-roofed building in this photo is the Hotel del Coronado. The photo was taken August 23, 2018.

Photo by Antony-22, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Layered sandstone shelves at Sunset Cliffs, with people on the rock and the ocean to the left.

Sunset Cliffs

Look from the path along Sunset Cliffs Boulevard. The sandstone in this photo is unstable. Do not climb down. This is not a swim beach.

Photo by Sergei Gussev, July 2, 2017, CC BY 2.0. Sunset Cliffs Natural Park.

Wind, swell, and water temperature are a model for the open coast off Mission Beach, not a sensor on each towel. The tide is the Scripps Pier gauge in La Jolla, station 9410230. Lifeguards are generally on from 9 a.m. to dusk. Nothing on this page is saved.

Dogs are not allowed on city beaches during the day, except Dog Beach at Ocean Beach and Fiesta Island in Mission Bay. From April through October the ban runs 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. From November through March it runs 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. That is the city's rule, not a guess.

County beach water map. Closures and bacteria warnings live there. This page does not copy them.