Visiting Sunny Jim’s Sea Cave In La Jolla (2024)
Are you wondering whether to visit Sunny Jim’s Sea Cave in La Jolla? This article’s for you.
Sunny Jim’s Sea Cave is an interesting sea cave, connected to a souvenir shop by a man made tunnel built in 1902. To get to the sea cave, you’ll have to pay a $10 entrance fee at the Cave Store, and walk down 144 stairs.
This article will cover what you can expect touring the sea cave, tips for parking, and a few fun things to do around the area.
Here is everything you need to know when visiting Sunny Jims Sea Cave in La Jolla. For your convenience, I’ve included a map pinning where to park and nearby attractions.
How To Get To Sunny Jim’s Sea Cave
The Cave Store is located right by La Jolla Cove, so you can find street parking anywhere along Coast Blvd, and do a short walk to the store. There’s free 2 or 3 hour street parking spots. If you can’t find a spot, I recommend circling around for a few minutes, as many people tend to come and go.
Once you arrive at the Cave Store, you’ll pay a $10 entrance fee to walk down to the sea cave. There’s 144 stairs to walk down, and the stairs are damp, so make sure to bring shoes if you’re wearing flip flops. It’s dark, and the tunnel has a pretty low ceiling as well so you may have to duck down if you’re tall.
At the bottom, you’re granted 15 minutes to check out the cave and take pictures. Here you may get to spot a sea lion or two basking on the rocks, and see kayakers explore the cave from the outside.
To see how the cave resembles Sunny Jim, stand a little to the right and focus your camera on the ocean. Then you can see a face with a nose and pointy chin on the outline of the cave!
The walk back up is a nice little workout, and you can shop around for souvenirs at the gift shop before heading out.
What To Do Near Sunny Jim’s Sea Cave
After walking through Sunny Jim’s Sea Cave, I recommend seeing the other sea caves. La Jolla is said to have 7 unique sea caves.
To the left of the Cave Store, there’s a pathway out onto the rocks (Goldfish Point) that leads to an amazing view of the rugged cliffs and sea caves.
For a good view, walk all the way out and go near the right edge, and you’ll begin to see people kayaking around the different caves.
The next must–see attraction in the area is La Jolla Cove, where you can watch sea lions and harbor seals bask on the rocks.
On the way to La Jolla Cove, you can see the “Clam Cave”, a massive cave located on the left side of the same rock formation Sunny Jim’s sea cave was built into.
At La Jolla Cove, you can see the seals and sea lions from the top of the railing, or at eye level by walking down to the beach.
There were dozens of sea lions when I visited, barking at each other, and moving around the shore.
If you plan on walking to the beach, just keep in mind that’s illegal to disturb them, so it’s good to stay at a healthy viewing distance of 50 yards.
Also right next to La Jolla Cove is Ellen Browning Scripps Park, a beautiful oceanfront park with grassy areas and picnic tables. This is the perfect place to stop for a picnic after visiting La Jolla Cove and the sea cave.
And if you’re looking for somewhere to eat, there’s dozens of cafes, restaurants, and ice cream shops right across the street (along Prospect st).
History of Sunny Jim’s Sea Cave
Sunny Jim’s Sea Cave has a weird and interesting history. The tunnel that leads out to the sea cave was originally built in 1902 by two Chinese miners for a German engineer and entrepreneur Gustav Schultz.
As soon as the original 133 wooden stairs were built, Gustav began to charge admission, and thousands of visitors would flock to this attraction during summer months.
Back in the early 1900s, admission only cost 50 cents for children and $1 for adults, but it was a thriving business with the amount of tourists it attracted.
It’s also believed that during Prohibition, the cave entrance was used by bootleggers to smuggle whiskey!
Now, the entrance costs $6 for children and $10 for adults, but it remains one of the most popular tourist attractions in La Jolla village. In 2015 alone, it brought 60,000 visitors, and seeing how busy it was in person, I don’t see the business fizzling out anytime soon.
Why is it named Sunny Jim’s Sea Cave?
It gets its name for the cave’s shape resembling Sunny Jim, an early 1900s cartoon character used to advertise Force, a popular breakfast cereal.
What’s even more interesting is that the person thought to first name it this is Frank Baum, the author of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz!
If you visit the sea cave from The Cave Store, the outline of the cave looks like a person facing toward the left, with a noise and pointy chin.
The following comparison picture may help you see the resemblance.
If you still don’t see the resemblance, don’t worry, it’s not you. The person who named it happened to be one of the world’s most imaginative people (author of Wizard of Oz!).
Sunny Jim’s Sea Cave Map
Sunny Jim’s Sea Cave FAQs
Is Sunny Jim’s sea cave worth visiting?
In my experience, Sunny Jim’s sea cave was worth visiting because it’s such an interesting landmark.
It was fun walking down the wooden stairs and damp narrow tunnel walls knowing that thousands of people also visit each year. That being said, $10/person entrance isn’t cheap, so you may want to skip it if you’re not interested in history.
Additionally, you can see another perspective of the cave by going on a kayak tour.
How long does it take to visit?
It only took me around 15 minutes in total to visit the sea cave and take pictures. You’re allotted 15 minutes at the bottom of the cave to take pictures, and it only takes a few minutes to climb up or down the stairs.
What are Sunny Jim’s Sea Cave hours?
The Cave Store is open everyday from 9am-4:30pm.
When’s the best time to visit Sunny Jim’s Sea Cave?
The best time to visit the sea cave is during weekdays, as it can be very busy on the weekends. If you visit on the weekend, you may have to wait in line, and circle around a few times to find a free street parking spot.
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