List of beaches in San Diego facts for kids

La Jolla Shores Beach

This is a list of beaches in the San Diego area in Southern California, USA. This article actually contains two sequential lists: a list of beaches in San Diego's North County, and a list of beaches that are within the city limits of San Diego. The beaches are listed in order from north to south, and they are grouped (where applicable) by the community in which the beach is situated.

Some beaches in the San Diego area are long continuous stretches of sandy coastline, others, like many of the beaches in the Village of La Jolla (which was built on a large rocky promontory), are small sand beaches within rocky coves or between rocky points. A number of beaches in the San Diego area have cliffs behind them, usually composed of rather soft sandstone; some other beaches front freshwater lagoons where rivers run into the coast.

Beaches in North County

This list of beaches in San Diego's North County is arranged from north to south; the beaches are grouped by the communities in which they occur. Although in some areas there may be a continuous long stretch of sand along several miles of coastline, especially so during low tides, nonetheless there may be different beach names at different locations, according to where the beach is accessed.

• San Onofre State Beach
  • Upper Trestles
  • Trestles
  • Lower Trestles, Church
  • Old Man's
  • Trails
• Camp Pendleton a.k.a. Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, has 17 miles (27 km) of coastline
  • Del Mar Beach Resort at Camp Pendleton—must have base access
• Oceanside:
  • Harbor Beach
  • Buccaneer
  • South Oceanside
  • Oceanside
• Carlsbad:
  • North Carlsbad beaches
  • Carlsbad State Beach
  • South Carlsbad State Beach
    • Ponto Beach
• Leucadia:

Beacon's Beach in Leucadia

• • Grandview Beach
  • Beacons Beach, a.k.a. Leucadia State Beach
  • Stone Steps
• Encinitas:
  • Moonlight State Beach
  • D Street Beach, a.k.a. Boneyards
  • Swami's Beach
• Cardiff:
  • Pipes
  • San Elijo State Beach
  • Cardiff Reef
  • George's
  • Cardiff State Beach

View from Cardiff State Beach

• • Seaside
  • Tabletop
• Solana Beach:
  • Tide Park
  • Fletcher Cove Park, a.k.a. Pillbox
  • Seascape Surf, a.k.a. Seascape Beach
  • Del Mar Shores
• Del Mar:
  • Dog Beach, a.k.a. The River Mouth
  • Del Mar City Beach
  • Powerhouse Park

Beaches in the city of San Diego

These beaches are within the city limits of San Diego. The beaches are listed from north to south and are grouped by the name of the community in which they are situated. Note that names such as "Pacific Beach" and "Ocean Beach" refer to the name of communities, as well as being the names of the beaches situated within those communities.

• Torrey Pines State Beach
• La Jolla:
  • Torrey Pines City Beach

The cliffs at Black's Beach, La Jolla

• • Black's Beach
  • La Jolla Shores
  • La Jolla Cove
  • Boomer Beach
  • Shell Beach

Children's Pool beach in La Jolla

• • Children's Pool Beach a.k.a. Casa Beach
  • Wipeout Beach
  • Hospitals Beach
  • Whispering Sands Beach, a.k.a. Horseshoes
  • Marine Street Beach
  • Windansea
• Pacific Beach:
  • Tourmaline Surf Park
  • North Pacific Beach
  • Pacific Beach
• Mission Beach:
  • Mission Beach
  • Mission Bay and Beaches - beaches in the Bay
  • South Mission Beach
• Ocean Beach:
  • Ocean Beach, beach and fishing pier
  • Dog Beach
• Sunset Cliffs
  • Sunset Cliffs
• Point Loma:

Tidepools at Cabrillo National Monument

• • Cabrillo National Monument - access to tidepools
• Coronado:
  • Coronado Central Beach
  • North Beach
  • Glorietta Bay
  • Silver Strand State Beach
  • Ferry Landing Marketplace
• Imperial Beach:
  • Imperial Beach, the pier
  • Border Field State Park - not always open, water not safe to swim in