San Diego Photowalk: Iconic Beach Towns

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California’s no. 2 city, San Diego, is home to amazing history, architecture, a fabulous zoo, an active military presence, and it also happens to boast some of the best beaches in Southern California.

In last week’s PhotowalksTV episode we explored the best photo spots of San Diego by focusing on the letters of the “Welcome to San Diego” mural. This week, we saved “D” and “O” for last.

Click directly below to catch the Part II San Diego episode of PhotowalksTV, with D standing for Sunset Cliffs and O for Mission Beach’s Belmont Park.

San Diego’s beach towns:

Ocean Beach: This is a party town that’s full of bars and nightlife, and it also happens to have one of the longer piers in SoCal. But the highlight, for me, is Sunset Cliffs Natural Park, which offers miles of hikes, and an awesome 100-step walk down to the rocky cliffs that has to be seen to be believed. See the picture directly below? That pretty much tells the story.

Mission Beach: Home to the iconic Belmont Park amusement park. There are very few beach towns that still have a classic wooden roller coaster by the sea, and San Diego has one of them, the Giant Dipper, circa 1924, along with the “Plunge” a classic 1900s era swim stadium. Beyond that, Mission has a long paved walkway for strolling, biking and such by the sea.

Pacific Beach: The liveliest of the three beach towns, with tons of restaurants, bars and shops, along with your beach life. One highlight to look out for. The Pier happens to have a bonus: a motel directly there, that lets you sleep over the water. However, rooms are hard to come by–when I called in January they were booked solid through November, and they are not cheap, starting at $400 nightly.

La Jolla: San Diego’s jewel, home to a University of California branch, aquarium and three must-see beach attractions. The Scripps Pier in La Jolla is not the old wooden variety, but made of concrete, and it’s a stunner to see.

The La Jolla Cove is a beach that is favored by seals and sea lions, so if you’d like to get up close with them, this is the place, and it also sports some awesome sea caves. The Children’s Pool also attracts seals.

And finally, the Windansea Beach has this wonderful little shack built by service personnel in the 1940s that still stands today, and makes you feel like you’re on some remote island somewhere.