North Pacific Beach offers many fun activities including swimming, paddleboarding, wildlife watching, kayaking, canoeing, beachcombing, boating, kitesurfing, sailboarding, surfing, bodysurfing, bodyboarding, skating, biking, fishing, and sunbathing. The water near this beach has gentle waves and is relatively calmer than other San Diego beaches. In addition, the water here is ideal for all kinds of surfers and swimmers. If you are an amateur surfer, the nearby San Diego Surf School offers surfing lessons taught by CPR-certified instructors and also organizes surf camps for kids and offers surf boards on rent. However, if you are planning to go into the water near North Pacific Beach, we recommend being careful as the water here is known to have unpredictable rip currents. In addition, we recommend visiting early if you are planning to go into the water here as it can get crowded during the latter part of the day. It is also important to note that the local authorities may periodically designate separate surfing and swimming areas in the water near North Pacific Beach in order to avoid overcrowding. Depending on the time of the year, you can see many kinds of animals in the water near this beach including seals, sea lions, dolphins, and migrating whales.
The Ocean Front Walk is a concrete walkway that runs along the blufftop area above North Pacific Beach which features numerous exciting nightclubs, shopping stores, bike and water-sporting equipment rental facilities, and restaurants and is also a popular skating and biking spot. The grassy parks situated in the blufftop areas above North Pacific Beach offer fantastic Instagram-worthy views of the San Diego shoreline, particularly during sunsets. The Crystal Pier is a wooden pier located near the southern end of the beach which offers amazing pier fishing spots and marvelous Instagram-worthy views of the Pacific Ocean. If you are planning to fish in the water near North Pacific Beach, make sure that you comply with the local fishing regulations.