{"id":967953,"date":"2012-11-18T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-11-18T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/family-travel-san-diego-beaches-for-families\/"},"modified":"2015-06-29T10:26:48","modified_gmt":"2015-06-29T10:26:48","slug":"family-travel-san-diego-beaches-for-families","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/family-travel-san-diego-beaches-for-families\/","title":{"rendered":"Family Travel: San Diego Beaches for Families"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Family<\/div>\n

Surf’s Up!<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

With over 70 miles of coastline, an almost year-round calendar of sunny days, calm weather, and beautiful clear beaches, San Diego certainly boasts some pristine spots for families seeking a wide variety of beachside entertainment.<\/p>\n

Best for Beginning Surfers: Moonlight Beach, Encinitas<\/strong>
\nMoonlight Beach\u2019s gentle and consistent waves are just right for little grommets seeking to improve their skills.\u00a0 Numerous year-round, kid-friendly surf lessons are available from the pros.\u00a0 In addition to great waves, Moonlight Beach features bathrooms & showers for cleanup, a snack bar, on-site lifeguards, fire pits, and even plentiful free parking.<\/p>\n

Best for teens:\u00a0 Mission Beach<\/strong>
\nThe combination of the boardwalk-lined beach, amusement park rides, restaurants, and shops make Mission Beach a best bet for tweens and teens looking for a hip scene.\u00a0 Belmont Park, situated directly across from Mission Beach, offers numerous rides from old-fashion favorites to thrilling high-tech attractions.\u00a0 Be sure to check out the Wave House at Mission Beach.\u00a0 This restaurant is a very happening spot where you can learn to surf by riding artificial waves on \u201cthe Flowrider.\u201d\u00a0 Even if you aren\u2019t interested in learning to surf, grab a bite to eat and watch the free entertainment!<\/p>\n

Best for sandcastles<\/strong>
\nCertainly most sand-laden beaches are enough for the average kid.\u00a0 But if your castle-maker has grand goals, be sure to head to Imperial Beach.\u00a0 Although budget cuts and roadwork plans deterred the 2012 US Sandcastle competition that annually calls Imperial Beach its home,\u00a0 a 2013 showing is likely to return.\u00a0 I sure hope it does; walking up and down the shore while marveling at amazing pieces of (temporary) artwork is a great way to spend an afternoon.<\/p>\n

Best for Tide Pools <\/strong>
\nSan Diego boasts quite a few excellent tide pool spots including the La Jolla Cove tide pools, Shell Beach, and Swami\u2019s Beach, but my favorite spot for tide pool exploration is at Cabrillo National Monument.\u00a0 At Cabrillo, the park rangers are excellent guides helping your kids not only learn about, but also find some of the ocean\u2019s most intriguing critters including anemones, octopus and a plentiful amount of hermit crabs.<\/p>\n

Best overall for Families <\/strong>
\nThere is something incredibly magical about Coronado Beach.\u00a0 I may romanticize a bit, but as I sit in the clean white Coronado sand and watch my children play, I feel like I have gone back in time.\u00a0 We love the space to run and play, the small tide pools located off the rocks, the numerous shells to be discovered, and the diversity of the shoreline\u2019s visitors.\u00a0 With the beautiful Hotel Del and downtown Coronado at my back, we have plenty of options for potty breaks, snacks, beverages, meals, diversions, and necessities, but I truly love the simplicity and beauty of this beach.\u00a0 My favorite part of the day at Coronado is sunset:\u00a0 Point Loma\u2019s tip stretches out at the horizon, and the ocean and sky glow in an amber colored haze of happiness.\u00a0\u00a0 Coronado forces me to sit, relax, and enjoy the simplicity of my family.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that what the beach should be about?
\nTurn your kids into beach bums with a San Diego family vacation<\/a><\/strong>!<\/p>\n

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter<\/a><\/strong> for exclusive travel deals! <\/em>
\nphoto: Katie Bodell<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Surf’s Up!   With over 70 miles of coastline, an almost year-round calendar of sunny days, calm weather, and beautiful clear beaches, San Diego certainly boasts some pristine spots for families seeking a wide variety of beachside entertainment. Best for Beginning Surfers: Moonlight Beach, Encinitas Moonlight Beach\u2019s gentle and consistent waves are just right for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[70,66],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-967953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family","category-interests"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/967953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=967953"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/967953\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97171948,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/967953\/revisions\/97171948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=967953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=967953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=967953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}