Coronado
in San Diego is one of those special beaches; it is a veritable oasis
by the sea with all the lush subtropical vegetation. Coronado's ocean
beach is over a hundred yards wide and very flat, making it a great outdoor
playground for kids. The sand is fine and sparkles like gold. Actually
the flakes are mica, which is a mineral rarely found in beach sand. Typically,
the surf is mild and the water warm in the summer, making it a perfect
area for a swim. This is also a great place for ship watching - San Diego
is the home port for the U.S. Navy's Pacific fleet, including the nuclear-powered
aircraft carrier the Nimitz. Seeing these enormous ships sailing through
the inlet close to shore is an awesome experience in and of itself. The
local landmark is the Hotel del Coronado, built over a hundred years ago
with striking architecture and offering Old World elegance. The Del, as
it is called, has almost 700 rooms and claims to be the largest full-service
beach-front resort on the Pacific. It is almost a fairyland-type castle
and has served kings, sheiks, presidents, movie stars, and tycoons.
La
Jolla is another quiet and sophisticated beach community. This village
of good hotels, fine restaurants, and glittering shops is technically
part of San Diego, but in reality it is a world apart. Wealth is palpable
here as residents drive the quaint streets in their BMWs and Mercedes.
La Jolla was named by the Spanish explorers, and the word translates to
"the jewel". This cliffed, curvaceous promontory is adorned
with pocket beaches, providing a varied and beautiful coastline. Some
of the smaller beaches are only accessible by climbing down a metal staircase,
sometimes a bit rickety, over the cliff edge to the sand some hundred
feet below. Ice plants hang on tenaciously to the cliff edge and remind
us that this is an unstable area subject to episodic landslides, particularly
after major rainstorms. Delmar, just to the north of La Jolla, has had
a number of major slips, bringing down improperly located houses.
La Jolla Shores Beach is one of the best in San Diego County, offering
many recreational opportunities from swimming to spying on sea creatures
in tidal pools. Submarine canyons come right into the beach face, causing
a loss of beach sand but also providing divers an easy entrance into the
popular Scripps Shoreline Underwater Preserve. Because of the clear water
and diverse sea life, La Jolla is one of the nation's premier dive areas
- but remember that the water drops off thousands of feet only a few miles
offshore. Nearby, but separated by a rocky outcrop jutting into the Pacific
Ocean, is Children's Pool Beach. An offshore breakwater blocks the surf
and makes the beach ideal for children. The beach is also shared with
a population of sea lions, who provide additional excitement for young
kids and adults alike.
Torrey Pines State Beach, just a few miles north of La Jolla, is the top
wilderness beach in Southern California. The view from the high sandstone
cliffs to the sandy beach and surf some 300 feet below is breathtaking
as you walk through the wind-twisted pine trees. Torrey pines are endangered,
and this park contains the major preserve of this species. The shore below
is Black's Beach, which is probably the most infamous clothing-optional
beach in the country. Climbing down the rugged cliffs can be quite challenging
and some-times unsafe because of landslides, but it is said that this
hardship separates the real sun-worshipping nudists from the faint-hearted.
There is a service road further down the coast that provides a safer,
albeit longer, route to the beach.
.JPG)
Coronado
in San Diego is one of those special beaches; it is a veritable oasis
by the sea with all the lush subtropical vegetation. Coronado's ocean
beach is over a hundred yards wide and very flat, making it a great outdoor
playground for kids. The sand is fine and sparkles like gold. Actually
the flakes are mica, which is a mineral rarely found in beach sand. Typically,
the surf is mild and the water warm in the summer, making it a perfect
area for a swim. This is also a great place for ship watching - San Diego
is the home port for the U.S. Navy's Pacific fleet, including the nuclear-powered
aircraft carrier the Nimitz. Seeing these enormous ships sailing through
the inlet close to shore is an awesome experience in and of itself. The
local landmark is the Hotel del Coronado, built over a hundred years ago
with striking architecture and offering Old World elegance. The Del, as
it is called, has almost 700 rooms and claims to be the largest full-service
beach-front resort on the Pacific. It is almost a fairyland-type castle
and has served kings, sheiks, presidents, movie stars, and tycoons. .JPG)
La
Jolla is another quiet and sophisticated beach community. This village
of good hotels, fine restaurants, and glittering shops is technically
part of San Diego, but in reality it is a world apart. Wealth is palpable
here as residents drive the quaint streets in their BMWs and Mercedes.
La Jolla was named by the Spanish explorers, and the word translates to
"the jewel". This cliffed, curvaceous promontory is adorned
with pocket beaches, providing a varied and beautiful coastline. Some
of the smaller beaches are only accessible by climbing down a metal staircase,
sometimes a bit rickety, over the cliff edge to the sand some hundred
feet below. Ice plants hang on tenaciously to the cliff edge and remind
us that this is an unstable area subject to episodic landslides, particularly
after major rainstorms. Delmar, just to the north of La Jolla, has had
a number of major slips, bringing down improperly located houses.