San Diego Travel Forum

Hey guys,

I will be travelling to California mid July for a 2 week trip with 2 mates all 25. We'll mostly be in San Diego but will also be going to Los Angeles and San Fransisco. We'd like to cram as much in as possible. Part of this means sport activities - banana boating; sea kayaking; boating; surfing; biking; scrambling; MTV off-roading; Whitewater Rafting! Any reccommendations of what and where to do any of these (Or more!)

Cheers!

Generally, the best durfing in California is south of los Angeles, and the best whitewater rafting is near Sacramento. More precise recommendations require knowing how experienced you are at these particular activities.

You might want to fit in a few days on Santa Catalina Island, off the coast of LA (accessible from San Diego, too). We have snorkeled there and enjoyed that alot. The good snorkeling spots on Catalina are accessible by boat. They have rental equipment there. Also on Catalina, biking, hiking, horseback riding and boating. It's a tiny island and not a whole lot to do so don't plan on too many days there.

You'll only find white water rafting in northern California. Right now, the wildfires up there are still out of control (around Monterey County). They do not have enough resources to fight the blazes. So, my guess is that the fires will still be going for a while. You can still visit San Francisco because it's not near any of the forests but you won't find too many sports activities there either.

Bike rentals in LA are at the beach. Don't miss seeing Venice Beach - one of the craziest places in LA to see.

San Diego is a great choice for water sport activities. Head to Mission Bay for sailing, wakeboarding, kayaking, and the ocean side to Mission Beach over to Ocean Beach and the Sunset Cliffs area for surfing. La Jolla has the snorkeling and biking. Fishing is a great pasttime as well, and this is at Shelter Island in Point Loma. See VTers San Diego pages and the website: http://www.sandiegogetaway.com/watersports.php

I agree with travelguormet. San Diego is good for water sports. Surfing however I find the ocean in California too cold, but you can give it a try. My favorite place for ATVing is in Pismo Beach. I've been there about 6 times and it's never dull. The dunes are massive and you are free to ride as hard as you want. Angelos and Arnies are two good companies I always use for rentals. Whitewater rafting is good around Lake Tahoe. Biking is good in San Francisco. Enjoy!

La Jolla, Venice Beach, Santa Monica should not be missed while you are in Souther California.

Hey,

The suggestions so far are very good ones, I'm just butting in to add a bit more.

At La Jolla Shores you'll find that it is teeming with watersports activities and rental shops for every thing you might want to try, they even give lessons.
There are caves to explore and even a 6,000 acre Underwater Park in this location, so kayakng, snorkling and diving are very popular here. Take a look at my La Jolla page under Sports Travel for more info.

Probably the only off-roading you'll be allowed to do is in the desert where there is little or no vegetation. It is fire season here and any spark can set off a big one.

You can surf at selected beaches from Imperial Beach up past La Jolla, it would depend upon your skill which beach you should go to. There are boat rentals in Coronado and around Mission Bay, bike rentals in Coronado, Pacific Beach and La Jolla Shores and you can read more about what they offer by looking at my pages on these areas.

The only Whtewater Rafting I know about is at the Colorado River.

Ah, the Queen has spoken. 'nuff said. I bow, your Queenliness. But....I'm watching, reading, and learning from your exaulted Highnessness.;-)

Wow Larry!

I'm doing my best but, such extravagent praise, might go right to my head!

Just for the record, I do learn much from you guys too!

Linda, you be careful when you are out in Mission Bay wakeboarding. I've heard all about the crazy lady who wakeboards the bay with a bottle of gin in one hand. ;-)

Well Larry, you should know that it wasn't me!!

If I'm drinking it straight out of the bottle, it's Cuervo 1800 that'll be in my hand!

"If straight from the bottle, you do take, tis the next morning, you shall hate!" Famous Tequila quote from Travelgourmet.

Good one!!

May I quote you?

Sorry, I'm happily married!

Thanks guys!

All of that sounds great. Other possibilities include snorkelling, quad biking, sailing...

Just to answer a few queries

We have no whitewater rafting experience but we are adventurous - and can swim pretty well! I understand from the fires that this may not be possible near Lake Tahoe on the Southern/Middle Fork. So I guess we are restricted where we can go (Possibly Kings River - near Yosemite?) - can you recommend any outfitters?

Also are there any bike hire shops nearby for biking along the coastline (good bikes would be better for the expereince - road or mtb depending on where)- is this better for LA or SFO?

Is kayaking best for the sea or are there rivers nearby we can do this on?

Thanks again

For White Water Rafting you will be fine if you don't choose a rapids that is above a level 3.

http://www.gowhitewater.com/

Call them, I don't think the fires are bad around this area. It's not IN Lake Tahoe, it's near it. This is just a random company I pulled off google. I would rent bikes in San Francisco because the scenery is so much more well..scenic. I've never done it, but there are many bikers who bike across the Golden Gate Bridge and bike around the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The views are breathtaking along the coast, and there is a light house at the tip of the area. I would probaly say to kayak in San Diego and rraft in Northern California. The dunes at Pismo Beach though, will definetly be the highlight. I've gone rafting before in British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and Colorado and at least from what I saw the Truckee River is okay in comparison. As I mentioned before, I find the ocean to cold in California to really enjoy sea kayaking, but when it comes to the dunes...wow I've never seen anything so massive!

>>>Also are there any bike hire shops nearby for biking along the coastline (good bikes would be better for the expereince - road or mtb depending on where)- is this better for LA or SFO?

If you are asking this question about the San Diego area, then yes, there are bike hires shops all around. Coronado, on Orange avenue,sometimes at the Hotel del Coronado and at the Ferrylanding Marketplace you can hire bikes. At Pacific Beach, Mission Beach, Mission Bay and at La Jolla Shores you can rent bikes. They even offer biking tours which go up as far as Mount Soledad.

>>>Is kayaking best for the sea or are there rivers nearby we can do this on?

In San Diego, the kayaking is mostly done in the ocean. However, they do offer some for the bay area too. You might also look into surf sailing at Mission Bay or surf kiting at the Silver Strand.

There are really no "near-by" rivers in San Diego. We have a few lakes around but those are mostly in the eastern area of San Diego County towards the desert near/in the mountiains. These lakes are mostly used for fishing, so the only boating is of the slow and quiet kind.

>>>I find the ocean to cold in California to really enjoy sea kayaking,

Jonathan, I'd mention here that in San Diego now, the water temp is in the high sixties to low seventies, so with the air temp in the eighties, that water shouldn't feel too cold.

Also, these rental places offer wetsuits as well.

That's cold! lol
Florida's ocean tempurature is in the mid 80's. To each his own, I grew up in Alaska, so you'd think the low 70's would be warm to me.