11 Fun Things To Do In La Jolla CA (2024)
Are you looking for fun things to do in La Jolla? If so, this article’s for you.
I recently spent 3 days in San Diego, and exploring La Jolla was the highlight of my trip. La Jolla is a coastal neighborhood, just a 20-30 minute drive of downtown San Diego. Not only is it home to the University of California San Diego, but it stretches 7 miles along the coast with beautiful nature reserves, beaches, and coves surrounded by wildlife.
This article will cover all of the top attractions in La Jolla so you can plan a memorable trip. From paragliding to exploring tide pools and sea caves, there’s something on this list for everyone.
Here are 11 fun things to do in La Jolla.
1. Watch Seals At La Jolla Cove
A must-see attraction in La Jolla is La Jolla Cove. This picturesque turquoise blue bay is in the heart of La Jolla, and is home to dozens of seals and sea lions. If you want to spot wildlife, this is the place to go.
At the cove, there’s a lifeguard tower, viewing station, and stairs that lead down to the beach. You can swim at the small sandy beach, or watch the sea creatures play from the viewing station/shore.
When I visited, there were dozens of sea lions, barking at each other and waddling on the right side of the bay.
This is definitely a place you won’t want to miss while in San Diego, and it’s completely free to visit.
Keep in mind that street parking can be difficult here, so you may circle around for a few minutes to get a spot. However, there’s plenty of free 2 or 3 hour street parking if you’re willing to walk a bit further.
Just to the left of the bay, the Ellen Browning Scripps Park is the perfect grassy park to set up a picnic. It has picnic tables, restrooms, shaded areas, and benches overlooking the ocean.
2. Visit the Torrey Pines Gliderport
Head to the Torrey Pines Gliderport to watch flyers paraglide by the ocean, or go paragliding yourself! The Torrey Pines Gliderport is a small glider airport sitting on a hill right above Black’s Beach.
You can park at the large dirt parking lot here for free, and watch daring people go paragliding along the coast. If you’re up for an adventure, they offer paragliding lessons and tandem flights, where you’ll get to fly with an expert instructor.
Additionally, there’s a steep hillside trail that leads down to Black’s Beach from the glider airport.
This is a popular surfing beach with a long stretch of sand and strong waves. Just keep in mind that it’s a nude beach, and lifeguards aren’t always present, so it’s not the best beach to relax on.
3. Kayak through the La Jolla Sea Caves
If you’re looking for something adventurous to do, go kayaking into the La Jolla sea caves!
La Jolla has 7 unique sea caves, located just north of La Jolla Cove. You can go kayaking with an expert naturalist guide to travel inside of the sea caves, and spot tons of wildlife along the way.
From spotting seals to leopard sharks and dolphins, this is one of the most exciting activities San Diego has to offer. They start each tour off with a kayaking lesson, so it’s perfect for beginners as well.
4. Visit Sunny Jim’s Sea Cave
Sunny Jim’s Sea Cave is one of the seven La Jolla sea caves, and the only one accessible by land.
It’s just a 5 minute walk north of La Jolla Cove, and is accessible by paying a $10 entry fee to The Cave Store, and walking down 145 stairs to the cave’s opening.
At the bottom, you’ll likely see kayakers pass by, and you may see a sea lion relaxing on the rocks by the cave.
Although many people consider it a tourist trap, it has a really interesting history.
In 1902, an entrepreneur named Gustav Schultz hired two Chinese laborers to build a tunnel connecting the gift shop to the opening of the sea cave. Once the tunnel was carved out, he began charging an entry fee for tourists to visit the cave.
Back in the early 1900’s, it was only 50 cents for children and $1 for adults to visit! Now it’s a popular tourist attraction, and attracts thousands of visitors to this day, despite the drastic price increase.
5. Hike At Torrey Pines Natural Reserve
The Torrey Pines Natural Reserve is an oceanfront park with great hiking trails and a long stretch of clean sandy beach.
You can hike the Guy Fleming Trail, a 0.7 mile round trip trail that runs along the coast. Here you’ll have a sweeping view of the ocean and you’ll pass by wildflowers and lots of diverse plants.
Parking at Torrey Pines costs $10-$25/day per vehicle, and there’s three parking lots (North, South, Visitor Center). For the closest access to the Guy Fleming Trail, it’s best to park at the visitor center.
6. Relax On The Beach
La Jolla is home to some of San Diego’s most beautiful beaches. Besides La Jolla Cove, here are the most popular beaches in the neighborhood:
- Torrey Pines: Best beach to spend the day at or set up a picnic on the shore
- Windansea Beach: Gorgeous beach with benches overlooking the ocean
- Black’s Beach: Popular surfing and nude beach
Torrey Pines is a great family-friendly beach with restrooms, outdoor showers, and a long stretch of clean sand. The beach stretches over 4 miles, so there’s plenty of secluded areas to relax or set up a picnic.
For easy access to the beach, you can park at either the North or South Beach Lot. If you want to avoid the parking fee ($10-$25/vehicle), you can park along the street, just outside of the North Beach Lot. From there, it’s just a short walk to get to the beach. This is a great family–friendly beach with restrooms and outdoor showers.
Windansea Beach is one of the nicest beaches in San Diego, just a few miles south of La Jolla Cove. There’s benches overlooking the ocean, and a steep set of stairs that descend down to the beach. This is a popular surfing beach, and a good place to sunbathe when the tide’s low.
There’s ample street parking along Neptune Place, and free residential spaces nearby for this beach.
Black’s Beach is a popular surfing beach that’s most known for being San Diego’s nude beach. The beach is over 2 miles long, so there’s many secluded areas. However, it’s not the best beach for swimming, as there’s strong waves and the lifeguards aren’t always on duty.
To get to Black’s Beach, you can walk down the hill from the Torrey Pines Gliderport or Black’s Beach Trailhead.
From the gliderport it’s a steep, sandy trail down to the more crowded area of the beach. Whereas the Black’s Beach trail is a steep paved road down to a more secluded area.
7. See the Abandoned Mushroom House
If you love architecture, visit the abandoned mushroom house in La Jolla. This is an mushroom-shaped house built in the 1960’s as a vacation home for Sam Bell of Bell’s Potato chips.
Throughout the years, it’s been purchased by different people, and is now vacant. Although the outside of the house is covered in graffiti, it’s still an interesting place to visit to see the design.
To get to the mushroom house, you’ll park at Black’s Beach trailhead. There’s free street parking right across the trailhead. From there, it’s a short but steep hike down a paved hill to the shore.
Once you reach the shore, you’ll turn left and walk for around 10 minutes until you reach the house. The house is closed off so you can’t enter it, but you can get up close and see it from different angles.
Keep in mind that there’s a small rocky section right before you approach the house, so make sure to wear shoes with good grip.
8. Explore The La Jolla Tide Pools
The La Jolla tide pools are a must visit when the tide’s low. These are extensive tide pools full of hermit crabs, anemones, and tiny sea creatures, just a few miles south of La Jolla Cove.
It’s located in a beautiful area and there’s plenty of free street parking by the tide pools.
9. Visit The Birch Aquarium
The Birch Aquarium is a small aquarium in Scripps Institution of Oceanography that’s perfect for kids or anyone who loves learning about marine life. The aquarium homes over 3,000 animals, with seahorses, little penguins, leafy sea dragons, and more interesting sea creatures.
Admission costs $30 for adults, $25 for children, and they require a reservation for their tickets (walk-ins not guaranteed).
10. Stroll Along Scripps Pier
For amazing sunset views, head to UCSD’s Scripps Pier. The pier is closed to the public, but you can stroll along the beach under it.
This area has an incredible view of the sun setting over the horizon, and it’s within walking distance to Caroline’s Seaside Cafe and the Birch Aquarium.
There’s free street parking scattered around the university (La Jolla Shores Dr, La Jolla Shores Ln, Discovery Way), just make sure to note when the parking expires to avoid a ticket. Then, you can walk down to Scripps Beach.
11. Visit The Mount Soledad Memorial Park
Mount Soledad is a veteran memorial perched atop a mountain, with a large cross and wall with thousands of plaques telling their stories. This is a beautiful place to watch the sunset or view the city lights at night.
It also has an interesting history. Since 1980, there have been legal battles on whether or not the cross violated the separation of church and state principle outlined in the first amendment.
After many attempts of government officials ordering the cross to be taken down, the land was purchased by the Mt. Soledad Memorial Association in 2016.
Now, the cross remains standing since it’s no longer on government land. There’s ample free parking, no entrance fees, and it’s open daily from 10am-7pm.
La Jolla Attractions Map
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