About fifteen minutes up the coast
Exploring La Jolla
The next town north, and the obvious day out from the house. Wildlife on the rocks, a sea cave you can walk down into, streets of shops and restaurants, and the best view in the county from the top of the hill.
The map
The house is at the bottom of the map, La Jolla above it. The numbers match the cards below.
What to do there
Roughly grouped: the coast first, then the village, then what is worth driving up the hill for.
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Photo by Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
La Jolla Cove
- Sea lions
- Snorkelling
- Free
A small sheltered cove below the cliffs, inside a marine reserve, which is why the water is so clear and the fish so unbothered. Sea lions and seals haul out on the rocks around it in numbers.
Why we like itThe wildlife is genuinely close, no boat required. Fair warning: the colony is pungent, and on a hot still day you will smell it before you see it.
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The lawn along the clifftop above the cove
Ellen Browning Scripps Park
- Lawn
- Picnic
- Clifftop
The flat grass lawn running along the clifftop above the cove, with palm trees, benches and a paved path. Picnic tables at the north end.
Why we like itThe easiest picnic in La Jolla, because you can park, walk fifty metres and sit down with the whole coast in front of you.
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Photos by Matt Howard thematthoward, CC0; User:Doubleduhgirls, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Children's Pool
- Seals
- Seasonal closure
- Viewing only
A small beach behind a curved concrete breakwater built in 1931. Harbour seals took it over and it is now a rookery: the beach closes to people entirely during pupping season, roughly December to May, and you watch from the sea wall above.
Why we like itYou can stand a few metres from wild seals and their pups. Check whether the beach is closed before you promise anyone a swim.
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Photo by Jarek Tuszyński, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Sunny Jim Sea Cave
- Ticketed
- 145 steps
- Indoor
A hand-dug tunnel of 145 steps leading down through the cliff from the back of a shop to a viewing platform inside a sea cave. Dug in the early 1900s. You buy a ticket in the shop.
Why we like itA short, odd, memorable thing to do that works in any weather. The steps are steep, damp and narrow, so it is not for everyone.
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The two streets the village shopping is on
Prospect Street and Girard Avenue
- Shopping
- Galleries
- Restaurants
La Jolla village shopping runs along these two streets, mostly clothing boutiques, galleries and jewellers, with the restaurants and cafes mixed in between. Prospect has the ocean views and the bigger names; Girard is the quieter of the two.
Why we like itSomewhere to spend an afternoon that is not the beach. Park once and do both streets and lunch on foot.
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Photo by Beyond My Ken, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Birch Aquarium at Scripps
- Ticketed
- Indoor
- Kids
The public face of Scripps Institution of Oceanography, up on the hill above La Jolla Shores. Tanks of local kelp forest species, a tide pool you can put your hands in, and a terrace with a long view down the coast.
Why we like itThe obvious answer to a grey morning or a day when nobody wants more sun. Book ahead in summer.
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Photo by Z3lvs, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Mount Soledad
- Free
- Panoramic
- 5 minutes
A veterans memorial on top of the hill between Pacific Beach and La Jolla, with a car park at the summit and a walkway around the memorial walls. On a clear day you can see the ocean, Mission Bay, downtown and the mountains inland.
Why we like itThe best view in reach of the house for the least effort, and it is free. Ten minutes there and back plus however long you stay.
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