Coronado Beach(Coronado Municipal Beach)

Located near the San Diego Bay, Coronado Beach - also known as Central Beach and Coronado Central Beach - is a large and flat beach with light brown sand and sparse vegetation. Coronado Beach starts near the historic Hotel del Coronado and spans north along Ocean Boulevard all the way north to a park named Sunset Park. This popular beach is one of the main beaches of the resort-city of Coronado (which is also nicknamed as "Crown City"). Coronado Beach has been named one of the Top 100 beaches in the United States by Randall Kaplan, the world’s foremost beach expert who is known as Mr. Beach. The approximately one-and-a-half miles long beach has a wonderful backdrop of oceanfront residential buildings. The sand in Coronado Beach has a substance named mica, which occasionally causes it to shine. Visitors can encounter this shining sand around the water near Coronado Beach during calm water conditions. The shoreline around this beach also has remnants of a sunken ship named SS Monte Carlo, which was shipwrecked here in the 1930s. 

Coronado Beach has lifeguards on a seasonal basis. In addition, lifeguards are posted here between 9 am to dusk. Coronado Beach and the area around it have many other amenities including restrooms, a promenade, picnic tables, volleyball courts, fire pits, and showers. Dogs are allowed without a leash in a special dog-friendly portion of Coronado Beach. This dog-friendly area is situated in the beach’s northern part near Sunset Park.

Coronado Beach offers many fun activities including sunbathing, beachcombing, biking, hiking, picnicking, volleyball, fishing, wildlife watching, swimming, surfing, kitesurfing, windsurfing, skimboarding, bodyboarding, bodysurfing, tidepooling, paddle boarding, jet-skiing, surf-skiing, water-skiing, parasailing, and boating. The water near Coronado Beach generally has gentle west-facing waves, which make it ideal for beginner swimmers, kayakers, canoers, paddleboarders, surfers, and bodyboarders. However, if you are planning to enter the water near Coronado Beach, we recommend being careful as the water here is known to have unpredictable rip currents. It is also important to note that no hard boards are allowed in the water near Coronado Beach between 11 am to 6 pm from Memorial Day to Labour Day. Depending on the time of the year, you can view many kinds of animals in the water near this beach including seals, sea lions, dolphins, and migrating whales. Another popular activity in Coronado Beach is tidepooling - you can view many kinds of wonderful creatures in the tidepools around Coronado Beach including crabs, limpets, sea anemones, and barnacles. You can also view sea hares and small fish here during really low tide. If you're planning to explore the tidepools in Coronado Beach, we recommend visiting during winters as the beach offers an amazing tide-pooling experience during this season. If you like beachcombing, we recommend visiting Coronado Beach during the morning, when you can find a large array of interesting shells here. Local artists also occasionally create marvelous sandcastle sculptures in Coronado Beach - one of the prominent local sandcastle sculptors in Coronado Beach is Bill Pavlacka, who is also known as the "Sandcastle Man."

Beach-accessible wheelchairs are also available for visitors with disabilities near Coronado Beach’s central lifeguard tower.

Getting to Coronado Beach is easy - the beach is situated near the intersection between Ocean Boulevard and Isabella Avenue which is easily accessible from Interstate 5. Street parking is available along Ocean Boulevard and paid parking lots are also available near the beach. However, we recommend visiting this beach early as the parking spaces here often fill up quickly. In addition, the beach also gets frequently crowded due to its popularity and family friendly nature.

As an interesting fact, the patches of vegetation present in the sand dunes near Coronado Beach spell out the word "CORONADO" when seen from the sky.

There are many attractions near Coronado Beach. The San Diego Zoo is an extremely popular zoo that is a pioneer of open-air animal exhibitions that seeks to accurately recreate the animal’s natural habitat. This zoo is one of the most visited zoos in the United States and is home to more than 12,000 animals of more than 600 species and subspecies. As an interesting fact, the first video to be posted on YouTube, named Me at the zoo, was actually shot in this zoo. The New Children’s Museum offers interesting interactive exhibitions for kids to help them learn and have fun. This museum also organizes exciting activities and educational programs for kids. If you are looking for another attraction near Coronado Beach, Chicano Park is a popular recreational park that is spread over seven acres and has many amenities including playgrounds, picnic tables, and gardens. In addition, this park is a major feature of the Barrio Logan neighborhood, which is San Diego’s oldest Mexican-American neighborhood. Chicano Park is also famous for having one of the largest number of Chicano murals in the world. The park also hosts various cultural performances and festivals throughout the year, with the most prominent being the Chicano Park Day celebrations held in April.

If you get hungry, there are many great restaurants near Coronado Beach. Herb & Wood is an upscale restaurant that has an elegant and vibrant decor. In addition, the restaurant serves amazing Mediterranean dishes with Californian culinary influences. Brigantine Seafood & Oyster Bar offers amazing seafood including fish-and-chips, seafood tacos, and oysters. Miguels’s Cocina serves delicious Mexican cuisine. If you are looking for another good and affordable restaurant near Coronado Beach, Clayton’s Coffee Shop serves excellent dishes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner including waffles, sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, seafood, French toasts, and pancakes.

If you are looking for a hotel near Coronado Beach, there are many great nearby options. The 5-Star Pendry San Diego offers many amenities including six bars and restaurants, a pool, a fitness center, and a spa. As another upscale option, the 4-Star Hotel del Coronado, Curio Collection by Hilton (also simply known as Hotel del Coronado) offers many amenities including three pools (including an infinity pool), a hot tub, a spa, and seven restaurants and bars. This historic hotel was initially built in the 19th century and has hosted many famous guests including Thomas Edison and Charlie Chaplin. As an interesting fact, portions of the Marilyn Monroe film Some Like it Hot were filmed in this hotel. A more affordable hotel is the 3-Star Residence Inn by Marriott San Diego Downtown/Gaslamp Quarter offers many amenities including a pool, restaurant, coin-operated laundry facility, a fitness center, a grocery delivery service, a convenience store, and complimentary breakfast. If you are looking for another good and affordable hotel near Coronado Beach, the 2-Star Best Western Plus Suites Hotel Coronado Island offers many amenities including a pool, a hot tub, laundry facilities, a courtyard, and complimentary breakfast.