Beaches Near San Diego, CA

San Diego is built around its coast, with beaches from Imperial Beach at the Mexican border up through Coronado, Ocean Beach, Mission and Pacific Beach, then La Jolla. The North County strand — Del Mar, Cardiff, Encinitas, Carlsbad, Oceanside — picks up from there. Water is warmer than the rest of California but still cool by Gulf standards.

Wednesday looks like the best day across this list.

Strongest single forecast: Cardiff State Beach on Wednesday (86).

Coronado Beach

2.7 mi · ~4 min drive · San Diego County, CA
61

Great day for a beach walk.

70°F water 70°F air 5 to 10 mph wind Best this week: Wednesday (82)

Ocean Beach (San Diego)

5.8 mi · ~8 min drive · San Diego County, CA
74

Great day for a beach walk.

68°F air 5 to 10 mph wind Best this week: Wednesday (82)

Mission Beach

6.6 mi · ~10 min drive · San Diego County, CA
64

Great day for a beach walk.

70°F water 72°F air 5 to 10 mph wind Best this week: Wednesday (84)

Pacific Beach

7.9 mi · ~11 min drive · San Diego County, CA
61

Great day for a beach walk.

70°F water 70°F air 5 to 10 mph wind Best this week: Wednesday (82)

Imperial Beach

9.3 mi · ~13 min drive · San Diego County, CA
76

Great day for a beach walk.

70°F water

La Jolla Cove

11 mi · ~16 min drive · San Diego County, CA
56

Great day for a beach walk.

65°F water 69°F air 5 to 10 mph wind Best this week: Wednesday (80)

La Jolla Shores

11 mi · ~16 min drive · San Diego County, CA
56

Great day for a beach walk.

65°F water 69°F air 5 to 10 mph wind Best this week: Wednesday (81)

Del Mar Beach

19 mi · ~27 min drive · San Diego County, CA
63

Ideal for a beach walk.

65°F water 74°F air 5 to 10 mph wind Best this week: Wednesday (80)

Cardiff State Beach

23 mi · ~33 min drive · San Diego County, CA
78

Great day for a beach walk.

71°F air 5 to 10 mph wind Best this week: Wednesday (86)

Moonlight Beach (Encinitas)

24 mi · ~35 min drive · San Diego County, CA
78

Great day for a beach walk.

71°F air 5 to 10 mph wind Best this week: Wednesday (86)

Carlsbad State Beach

28 mi · ~41 min drive · San Diego County, CA
83

Ideal for a beach walk.

75°F air 5 to 10 mph wind Best this week: Wednesday (86)

Oceanside Beach

36 mi · ~51 min drive · San Diego County, CA
72

Great day for a beach walk.

65°F water 70°F air 5 to 10 mph wind Best this week: Wednesday (80)

San Onofre State Beach

53 mi · ~1 hr 16 min drive · San Diego County, CA
61

Great day for a beach walk.

69°F air 5 to 10 mph wind Best this week: Wednesday (83)

San Clemente State Beach

54 mi · ~1 hr 18 min drive · Orange County, CA
80

Great day for a beach walk.

72°F air 5 to 10 mph wind Best this week: Wednesday (85)

Doheny State Beach

60 mi · ~1 hr 26 min drive · Orange County, CA
80

Great day for a beach walk.

72°F air 5 to 10 mph wind Best this week: Wednesday (86)

Laguna Main Beach

67 mi · ~1 hr 37 min drive · Orange County, CA
80

Great day for a beach walk.

72°F air 5 to 10 mph wind Best this week: Wednesday (85)

Crystal Cove State Park

71 mi · ~1 hr 43 min drive · Orange County, CA
79

Great day for a beach walk.

71°F air 5 to 10 mph wind Best this week: Wednesday (86)

Newport Beach

75 mi · ~1 hr 48 min drive · Orange County, CA
75

Great day for a beach walk.

72°F air 5 to 10 mph wind Best this week: Wednesday (84)

Huntington Beach (Surf City USA)

81 mi · ~1 hr 56 min drive · Orange County, CA
80

Great day for a beach walk.

72°F air 5 to 10 mph wind Best this week: Wednesday (85)

Bolsa Chica State Beach

85 mi · ~2 hr 2 min drive · Orange County, CA
80

Great day for a beach walk.

72°F air 5 to 10 mph wind Best this week: Wednesday (85)

Seal Beach

89 mi · ~2 hr 9 min drive · Orange County, CA
63

Great day for a beach walk.

70°F air 5 to 10 mph wind Best this week: Friday (82)

Long Beach (Alamitos Beach)

93 mi · ~2 hr 14 min drive · Los Angeles County, CA
80

Great day for a beach walk.

82°F air 5 to 10 mph wind Best this week: Thursday (84)

Redondo Beach

105 mi · ~2 hr 31 min drive · Los Angeles County, CA
78

Great day for a beach walk.

74°F air 5 to 10 mph wind Best this week: Wednesday (85)

Hermosa Beach

107 mi · ~2 hr 34 min drive · Los Angeles County, CA
75

Great day for a beach walk.

75°F air 5 to 15 mph wind Best this week: Wednesday (85)

Venice Beach

115 mi · ~2 hr 46 min drive · Los Angeles County, CA
75

Great day for a beach walk.

72°F air 5 to 10 mph wind Best this week: Wednesday (85)

Distance is straight-line, drive times are estimates

Mileage shown is straight-line distance from the center of San Diego. Real drive times depend on highway routing, weekend traffic, and where in the metro you start. For summer Saturdays, plan 20–40 minutes longer than the estimates here. The range slider above filters by the same straight-line distance.

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