La Jolla has been called the Monte Carlo of Southern California. It teems with life and surprises from fine dining restaurants perched atop jagged cliffs to indulgent soft sand beaches, year-round vacation sunshine and watercolor sunsets over the Pacific Ocean. This article lists five things that you should not miss when visiting this gem in the crown of America’s Finest City.
Tourists and locals alike flock to the Children’s Pool breakwater at 850 Coast Boulevard, originally designed as a safe place for children to wade. Today visitors enjoy close-up looks at dozens of Harbor Seals basking in the sun just a few meters away. Baby seals frolic at water’s edge while their parents keep a careful eye on them. There are sandy bathing beaches for people both north and south of Children’s Pool at the base of massive sandstone cliffs for which La Jolla is famous.
La Jolla Cove is a small sandy beach tucked between sandstone cliffs and sheltered from the ocean’s currents. Known for its extraordinary beauty, the Cove is the most photographed beach in Southern California. At high tides the rocks near the beach trap water; when the tide goes out tide pools are formed, full of interesting critters. Adults and children alike enjoy exploring the sea-life left behind. Check the tide tables in the daily Union Tribune newspaper; the tide pools are best enjoyed at low tide.
A visit to The Cave Store affords visitors the opportunity to descend a 100 year old stairway, into a manmade tunnel, down into the fascinating and mysterious Sunny Jim Cave – the largest of several ocean caves in La Jolla Cove. The cave’s first owner, Sunny Jim, hired two Chinese laborers in the early 1900’s to dig this underground tunnel down to the cave. Using only picks and shovels, they carried all the dirt out by hand. In the 1910’s, the only way the public could get to the cave was by lowering themselves down a rope. Today, you can take 145 stairs from The Cave Store. Sunny Jim Cave is the only sea cave in California that you can enter from a stairway.
Be sure to take a drive up Nautilus Street to the pinnacle of the city, the top of Mount Soledad. Dr. Seuss and his wife Audrey lived for years in the Seuss house on this mountain. From the park at the peak you can see San Clemente Island 65 miles west in the blue Pacific, North County beaches to the north and the San Diego downtown skyline and the Mexican border beyond to the south. The view is simply spectacular at night. The site is well known for the controversy generated by the Easter Cross war memorial that towers above the peak. There is no admission charge, the park is always open.
The Torrey Pines Gliderport is perched on 340-foot sandstone bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean just north of La Jolla. The prevailing westerly winds here meet the coastal cliffs to create ideal conditions for today’s gliders. The Gliderport towers above Torrey Pines City Beach, known locally as Black’s Beach, a well-known clothing-optional beach. The Gliderport was first established as a soaring site in 1928 and has had a role in defining the history of motor-less flight. Watching is free, the views are spectacular, the ocean magnificent; the Gliderport attracts enthusiastic participants and spectators year-round.
La Jolla and nearby beach communities have great accommodations. Here are two informative websites with useful lodging information: Carlsbad Bed and Breakfasts and Del Mar California Hotels.
