San Diego
Beach Hotels
North of Ocean Beach, you come to Mission
Bay and San Diego's most popular tourist attraction.
Exhibits and events at Sea World (mid June-Aug daily
9am-dusk; rest of year 10am-dusk; $41.95, kids $31.95,
parking $7; ) range from "performances"
by killer whales and dolphins to the eerie sight of
the heads of hundreds of moray eels protruding from
the hollow rocks of the "Forbidden Reef."
Sharks circle menacingly in the Shark House; the Penguin
Exhibit is a mock Antarctica; the Wild Arctic exhibit
simulates the North Pole with polar bears and walruses;
and the Manatee Rescue provides a close-up glimpse
of the white, bulbous freshwater herbivores.
Anyone of a nervous disposition, or
with a physique inappropriate for bathing apparel,
might find nearby Mission Beach - the peninsula that
separates Mission Bay from the Pacific Ocean - and
its seamless northern extension, Pacific Beach , an
intimidating spot, with scads of scantily clad torsos
and surfboard-clutching hunks. Despite first impressions,
though, the city authorities are endeavoring to limit
its anarchic hedonism - more families are using the
area, but little impact has been made on the beach's
freewheeling character.
A more pretentious air prevails in La
Jolla (always "la-hoya"), an elegant beach
community just to the north that mystery writer Raymond
Chandler once described as "a nice place - for
old people and their parents." Stroll its immaculate,
gallery-filled streets, fuel up on some California
cuisine at one of the many sidewalk cafés or
visit the La Jolla site of the Museum of Contemporary
Art , 700 Prospect St (Tues & Thurs-Sat 10am-5pm,
Wed 10am-8pm, Sun noon-5pm; $4; ), which has a huge
- and regularly changing - stock of paintings and
sculptures from 1955 onwards, with California pop
and minimalism some of the highlights. On the seaward
side of the museum lies the small, exquisitely tasteful
Ellen Scripps Browning Park , named after the philanthropist
whose Irving Gill-designed home now houses the museum.
Where the park meets the coast is the popular La Jolla
Cove , with clear waters perfect for snorkeling, as
long as you can secure a parking space. |
|
