San Diego is one of my USA happy places! I lived there for four years while my husband did his residency at UCSD. My two older children were born there. It will always have a special place in my heart and will always be one of my favorite places to visit. My family and I visited last summer (2024), during the first half of July. This is how we spent a week in San Diego!

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Day One

We took an early morning flight out of JFK in New York, direct to San Diego. A lot of times we will fly into LA for a cheaper flight, but this trip we knew we were not going to spend any time in LA. We decided to go directly to San Diego. I love the ease of the San Diego airport and will always prefer to avoid the chaos of LA! We hopped in a rental car and because our hotel room wasn’t ready yet, drove to a friends house to relax a bit.

Being fortunate to have good friends in San Diego we had that luxury. For anyone else I would suggest to go to your hotel and have them hold your bags while you relax by the pool! Another suggestion, if you have an Airbnb and cannot go directly there, go to Hotel Del on Coronado. You can relax by the beach, use their restrooms and restaurant and chill :)

Our hotel was Humphrey’s Half Moon on Shelter Island. I loved it! I wanted a resort that felt like an apartment. I wanted a pool, water close by, fun activities, a kitchen, a restaurant and a bar. It had everything! We had a one bedroom suite that was more than perfect for our family of five.

The marina views were breathtaking. We borrowed the bikes while there, got food poolside and cooked our own meals in our suite as well. I would go back there for sure.

After checking in and settling down a bit, we drove over to Point Loma to hike and see the lighthouse. The views there are amazing! The Cabrillo National Monument museum areas and little shop are worth a stop. I was able to get our car full in for free with my America The Beautiful Pass.

It was hot! Bring the sunscreen and water!

Once thoroughly exhausted, we drove over to Old Town. One of my favorite spots in San Diego! There are lots of parking lots around Old Town and we had no issues finding a spot. I also feel it’s not necessary to make reservations; there are so many restaurants and most are delicious.

We slept that night with full bellies and happy hearts.

Day Two

Day Two was spent at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.

We’ve been to the San Diego Zoo a million times but the safari park only a couple. We decided to head north to the larger safari park in Escondido. If it’s your first time visiting San Diego, the main zoo right at Balboa Park in the city should be a top priority.

I always recommend getting tickets ahead of time and getting to the zoo when the doors open. Sightings of animals is best in the mornings! We got on the safari early, walked a ton (saw the tigers!), all before lunch. The bonsai pavilion was one of my favorites.

We spent the day there and drove back to the hotel, relaxed by the pool in the evening and crashed to sleep that night.

Day Three

Day three was our beach day at Torrey Pines.

Unfortunately the beach was very cloudy (June gloomed persisted into July). It remained that way for the rest of the week, boo! We parked at the top of the hill and hiked first. I always do this on my San Diego trips. The amazing views of the Pacific Ocean make this place one of my lifetime happy places in my head.

After hiking we changed into our bathing suits and drove down the hill to the beach. There’s no food at Torrey Pines so you have to pack your own. There are restrooms there. We had cooler bags ready with snacks, lunch and drinks. The trunk was full of towels (we traveled with our own) and my friend’s beach chairs and umbrella. Despite the clouds, I had a relaxing time sitting on the beach for a couple of hours.

The beach has a lot of rolling rocks and all of us enjoyed skipping rocks on the water! Sometimes good clean classic fun is what the family needs :) Once it got closer to dinner we left and had a simple home cooked meal at the hotel.

Day Four

Day four was our La Jolla day.

An area I could spend a week at (and have!). We had breakfast at Sugar & Scribe. It was amazing! All five of us had the best meal. Parking was a bit tricky around the area; give yourself lots of time. We had tickets for Sunny Jim’s cave and decided to park in between the restaurant and the cave.

I’ve never been to Sunny Jim’s and am glad to have done it now! The kids got a bit claustrophobic on the walk down the stairs. It’s narrow, be warned. Well worth the adventure! At the bottom of the cave we kept seeing kayak groups. It’s on my plan for the next time we visit.

After exiting the cave we walked around La Jolla and the cove, over to the Children’s Beach area. The seals were having a loud party! It was fun to sit and watch from afar. The rest of the day was for relaxing at the pool.

Day Five

This was our Seaworld and Seaport Village day.

I had not been to either since living in San Diego (we moved in 2009). Seaworld was a lot different, in a good way! The park made needed changes. The kids enjoyed a lot of the rides. I enjoyed the flamingos.

Now, Seaport Village hadn’t changed at all! I loved that it was just how I remembered. We ate dinner there and walked around for an hour or so.

That evening my husband and I walked around Shelter Island for a while before going to bed. The island has quite a few statues, flower gardens and is home to the Japanese Friendship Bell.

Day Six

After a slower and quieter morning. We headed north to Solana Beach.

I wanted to do something new to us up there, a hike. Annie’s Canyon was quite a hike! It was one the kids ended up hating (sorry children!). Mostly because the canyons can get narrow and there is one steep part we had to climb.

After that we grabbed lunch on the go and headed back south. I wanted to see if the marine layer cleared at the ocean (it did not). We decided to go back to the hotel and watch the sunset from Point Loma. A relaxing evening after a great week.

Despite all the clouds we of course had a fun trip! In the past I’ve visited in August and I think I would do that again in the future. Less chance of June gloom! Still gorgeous anyway, of course :)