Visiting Coronado Island, San Diego, California
Last week I took at trip over to San Diego to hang out on the beach. Previously I have visited Mission Beach, La Jolla, Del Mar and some of the other beaches. This time I spent the week on Coronado Island.
My first impression was that the island seemed very rural and old worldy considering how close it was to downtown San Diego. The area cannot be described as cosmopolitan or cutting edge - perhaps best described as sleepy!
The beaches are large and at no point over a busy weekend did they get over crowded. I would give five stars for the beaches. They are clean, easy to access and have lifeguards on duty. No beachbums or other undesirables around either. There was quite a bit of seaweed in the water on the weekend I was there - and the water was just a but too cold for me!! I did see a school of dolphins moving quite close to the beach - I got quite a shock when I saw the fins for the first time!! I also heard of some people getting stung by stingrays during the weekend. Seemingly they are a bit of a problem out there. There was also occasional very loud noise produced by navy planes and jets landing on a nearby naval airport.
There is basically only one main drag in town with restaurants, coffeeshops and other beach related shops. You can stroll down this street in 15 minutes. By the end of my second day I was pretty board by this street.
The jewel of the area is the Hotel del Coronado which offers some historical interest to the area. Even if you are not staying there they do undertake tours of the hotel so that you can investigate its history.
All in all I thought the area was just a bit too bland for me even though I was there for a family beach getaway. There is little cultural diversity or even social diversity which for me makes for a dull, uninteresting place. I’ve been there once - I don’t think I will go back!