To the right is the South Pacific Beach Lifeguard Station. It is new and houses a lifeguard base of operations station. There is also a new public restroom directly behind it.
		This is a view of a small section of Mission Bay in the foreground.  The narrow strip of land between the bay and the ocean is the northern part of Mission Beach.  Pacific Beach is in the upper right quarter. (notice Crystal Pier extending into the ocean).

Pacific Beach is a community of San Diego extending approximately 3 miles along the Pacific Ocean. At the north end of the beach is Tourmaline Surfing Park, a favorite area used by surfers and sail-boarders year round. The immediate beach area directly to the south extends for about one mile and is bordered by cliffs above a sandy beach. Crystal Pier, a publicly accessible free fishing pier, is a well known landmark just to the south where the cliffs gently lower to beach level. The beach continues south for about two miles becoming Mission Beach and ending at the inlet to Mission Bay. At the south end of the beach area is Belmont Park complete with an old time roller coaster, fun rides, shops and restaurants.

In addition to the beach along the ocean side, Mission Bay Park is located just to the south of Pacific Beach and east of Mission Beach. In the 1950'es the city developed Mission Bay Park, a once marshy river bed into a 5,000 acre aquatic park. Dredging created islands, beaches and a navigable inlet to the Pacific Ocean. Today this park is used for a variety of recreational activities such as picnics, fishing, swimming, sailing, water skiing, and other family activities. The City of San Diego is in the process of $200 million dollars worth of improvements including new parks, wetlands, nature centers, bike paths, pedestrian walkways, new sail-boarding facilities and additional free parking.

Law Street Beach Above. Catching a wave to the right

The beach area is more than just a summertime destination in San Diego County. At all times of the year people arrive for different reasons and to utilize the facilities in different ways. All year round you can find people, walking, joging, walking their dogs, playing in the sand, swiming, lovers holding hands, boggie boarders and surfers riding waves, and others just watching other people and of course gathering for the magnificent sunsets.  Every beach area of Pacific Beach has something different to offer. We offer this convenient guide:

Best people watching:
Lahaina Beach Club - Just a couple of minutes' idle stroll south of Crystal Pier, Lahaina provides a friendly deck from which to play amateur anthropologist. Along Ocean Front Walk come young, old, walking, running, bicycling, roller-skating and even some scantily dressed people all enjoying the beach. There are people playing games and people with their pets such as parrots or snakes or geckos on their shoulders, and those people who are alone and with their in loved ones.

Best boogie boarding:
Law Street Beach - Located about 1/2 mile North of Crystal Pier this is a sandy beach which sits below 25 foot cliffs with a park on the top. Although it takes a while to learn to catch a ride body surfing, boogie boarding provides an opportunity to get royally crunched without any practice whatsoever. However, once you experience that first 'good ride', the experience can become one you must do again and again.

Best sunset:
Tourmaline Surfing Park - Discover what local surfers have known for years: This surfing beachat the foot of Tourmaline Street off La Jolla Boulevard offers the most dramatic sunsets in town. For optimum technicolor, choose a day when there are wisps of clouds in the west, the sky illuminated by a red reflection from the clouds can hardly be beat. And for those who are frequent sunset viewers, or those just lucky enough to be there at the right time, on clear cloudless days, you might just catch one the famous PB "Green Flash" sunsets. I can assure you they are for real!!

Best beach nobody knows about:
Riviera Shores, Mission Bay - Other than the Catamaran crowd, few beachcombers are aware of this restful, bay-front stretch of beach located beneath Riviera Shores Drive. (Take Ingraham Street to Riviera and park along the street where you can.) Unlike the Ocean beaches with a never ending parade of breaking waves, this beaches water front is as calm as a lake shore. The view across the bay from Riviera Shores will almost always find at least a few sailboats making their way back and forth across the open water.

Best beach overlook:
Law Street Park - This two block long patch of green grass with several benches overlooks the beach from the top of a 25 foot cliff. It is a favorite spot for observing the beach below and the endless numbers of rubber suited surfers displaying their skills at wave ridding just off shore. The park is also a favorite for picnickers and sunset watchers.

Best bicycling:
Pacific Beach and Mission Beach boardwalk - OK, it's not perfect. There's heavy competition from pedestrians, skate-boarders, jugglers, dog walkers and joggers. But you can't beat the scenery along the boardwalk, whether it's the ocean on one side or the partying throngs in their condos or on restaurant decks on the other. Plus, there is a bicycle path on the bay side without all the crowds if you prefer that.

This page is maintained by Larry Salus as a
Community Service

Larry Salus