San Diego – California
We knew being 20 minutes from a West Coast beach and 50 minutes from an East Coast beach in Auckland that we would be missing the sand & sea terribly after a month in the desert. So thanks to my lovely Wife and her mum, the kids’ Nana, we booked four days at the nearest beach, San Diego, California, some 701k’s in each direction and around 7 hours of driving.
Driving through the desert we were amazed by the journey the freeway took, coming almost within touching distance of the Mexican border. The famous (or infamous) “wall” was well within sight as were several border patrol posts and a stunning 4100ft climb over the mountains that led down into San Diego.
Choosing an Air B&B is always a risk but we were delighted with our last-minute choice, spacious and recently renovated, 15 minutes to the beaches and around the same to the World Famous Zoo.
First stop, even after 6 or 7 hours in the car we headed straight for the beach to put our toes in the sand and we were not disappointed by the beautiful sand. Miles of sand, plenty of space – there had to be, as the sun was shining and the Americans were on vacation. The tides here were not conducive to toddlers though, rip tides galore and a very strong current after the waves had come in. Parking was free and plentiful and we thoroughly enjoyed it.
The beaches here are lifeguarded very well with a lifeguard station about every 200 meters of so on the beach so help if you get into trouble is always on hand. they even man their stations until 8pm at night…well done guys of the San Diego Life Guards, great job.
Day two was Nana’s treat and a trip to the World-Famous San Diego Zoo. A truly 
stunning Zoo set in truly beautiful surroundings. A must for your itinerary in this City. The kids rode the bus, rode the gondola and saw animals in their plentiful. Our toddlers’ favorite thing was actually the gondola! The Zoo is a non-profit Zoo and that left us feeling our entry fees were going to a great cause.
My impressions of San Diego are that it has seen better days with many areas looking tired and maybe suffering from poverty. However that didn’t stop us and on day three we decided for a whole day on the beach and Kristi found the perfect spot, Coronado Island Beach. Absolutely stunning sand beach in a very desirable area, high end boutiques, Cafés and Coffee Shops. The 
bonus for us was that the tides and waves were far less aggressive here and we felt the boys were safe playing relatively close to the breaking water. The bonus for Charlie, who loves helicopters, was the at the end of this beach is the Navel Air base so he had a constant stream of Navel helicopters taking their landing approach right over his head all day. This base was actually the first Navel Air Force base in The United States.
All in all, the weather was great, mid 80’s, the beaches made us miss home but feel so happy, the kids had a great time and we would definitely come back. My recommendation is that if you come and can get close to Coronado Island then you definitely will not go wrong.