Title says it all:
Where’s the best place in San Diego County to watch the sunset?
For scenic beauty- if there’s actual cool stuff to walk to afterwards that would be a bonus.
. . . like with your Valentine on Valentine’s Day?
. . . also, she’ll probably be wearing heels- so don’t send us climbing any mountains. Mountains that I can drive up are o.k.
Sunset Cliffs.
No, I’m serious. If she’s wearing heels, you probably won’t want to walk much up there, but there’s places to park and even just the drive has a view. If this is for a date, it’s not too far from Ocean Beach or Point Loma, both of which have lots of walkable things.
I’ll suggest heading to La Jolla. There’s a sidewalk/trail that runs all along the bluffs there, and lots of shops and places to eat all within easy walking distance. Link to google map satellite view.
Hmmm, both look pretty yummy (followed blondebear’s satellite view link then searched Dr. Drake’s Sunset Cliffs from there).
Sunset Cliffs has a way better name, but The Coast Walk in La Jolla looks a little yummier. Also, although I’ve been to San Diego, proper, I’ve never been to La Jolla- despite knowing how to say it.
Still undecided, but thank you so much for the suggestions-and, blondebear, Google Maps satellite view was a great idea for a link.
In Pacific Beach, try the end of Felspar at Ocean Blvd. The view has Crystal Pier to the south and La Jolla to the north with a nice sunset in the middle. There is no shortage of restaurants and bars in the area. Or just cruise the boardwalk.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=san+diego+ca&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=61.840212,129.814453&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=San+Diego,+California&ll=32.797232,-117.257016&spn=0.008162,0.019934&z=17&layer=c&cbll=32.797355,-117.257071&panoid=wfqmC2BxEjl6CqVFBMQAig&cbp=12,272.41,0,2.48
Check out the google maps User Photos for some sunset preview pics.
I came in here to say Sunset Cliffs, but then I read the part about walking places to eat afterward.
Thus my first choice is La Jolla (pronounced HOYA, not JOLA or JALA ;)). Go to La Jolla Cove.
My second choice Pacific Beach near the pier for a more laid back or less expensive meal.
For Valentines Day … La Jolla. Head up to the top of Mt. Soledad beforehand.
I would say my hometown, La Jolla. Go to La Jolla village and watch the sunset there and then walk around the village after. It has a bunch of restaurants and art galleries and things to do or see. Or you can go to La Jolla Shores (down the road) and walk down the beach and eat at one of the restaurants there.
Just to avoid any potential confusion, La Jolla is a neighborhood located within the incorporated city of San Diego.
The cliff overlooking black’s beach, assuming you don’t mind looking at naked people. I don’t think there is anywhere to eat afterwards though.
If you want to do that, probably near where they do the hornblower cruises.
The sky was overcast, but I took a bunch of photos of the sunset on La Jolla shores near the Scripps pier when I was there in fall.
I’m sure it’s too late now, but for future reference, THE place to eat at La Jolla Shores is The Marine Room.
We had a lovely Valentine’s Day- but nothing went according to plan.
I had determined a La Jolla sunset, but we were so enjoying the drive (it was a beautiful day in San Diego County) that I completely drove past La Jolla.
Suddenly I noticed exit signs for the airport and for Ketner, and I realized we drove well past our exit. At this point it was nearly 5:00pm and, sunset being more or less 5:30, we didn’t have time to backtrack to La Jolla.
So we got off the freeway in downtown San Diego, and parked near the water. Blocks from where we blindly parked, we found a waterfront park alongside an aircraft carrier-turned-museum. We watched the sunset from there. I could have googlemapped hypercritically trying to find the absolute PERFECT spot, but it wouldn’t have made any difference. We had a beautiful Valentine’s sunset, it didn’t need improvment.
We walked from there, a bit along the waterfront, into the Gaslamp Quarter. Just enjoyed the walk for a while. Peeked into a few romantic restaurants that were well out of our budget, before settling down for a very romantic dinner at a wholely unromantic restaurant that was within our budget. Again, it was great and our unromantic restaurant was romantic enough because we each had one another across the table.
Bit more of a stroll then back home for a more private celebration.
So, in the end, the suggestions from this Thread went unobserved- but the suggestions were appreciated nonetheless.
Thanks!
A perfect example of the serendipity of a road trip…start out with a destination in mind, end up someplace else, and have just as good a time! Now, the next time someone asks “Where’s a good place to see the sunset in SD?”, you’ll have a great suggestion!