San Diego Dog Beaches

There are over 680 dog-friendly beaches in the United States. This past summer we visited two of them in San Diego; at Coronado Island and Ocean Beach.

This image of Ocean Beach was captured from a boat in the harbor.

This past June two of my daughters were visiting from Texas, and since they had been begging since forever to go to California, we jumped on AirBnB and rented a house near Ocean beach. Our other daughter who lives with us was super excited because both the house and the beach are dog friendly!

Luna was coming with us!

You can almost “hear” this picture

With six teenagers, two adults, and a dog, we had to take two vehicles on the 6 1/2 hour drive from our house in southeast Arizona. We left really early in the morning, with a plan to arrive in the San Diego area around noon and spend a few hours at the beach before check-in time at our AirBnB.

Click to open Google Maps

We decided that our first stop would be the dog beach on Coronado Island. Since it’s right next to the Naval Air Station, this would also give me a chance to hit the commissary to pick up groceries for the week. One thing we didn’t count on, parking was a bear! We drove around for about 20 minutes, and ended up parking the two vehicles about 1/4 mile away from each other.

But once we got to the beach, there were definitely plenty of entertaining dogs!

I suppose if you’re going to bring your dog to the beach, there’s no reason they shouldn’t be fashionably dressed.

Even the dogs who didn’t have fancy costumes had plenty of fun splashing in the water and chasing balls.

This guy was my personal favorite. He not only had fun with that orange ball, but also spent some time and energy digging a pretty impressive hole.

Click to open Google Maps

Of course Coronado wasn’t the only dog beach we visited. There is a whole dog section of Ocean Beach that was within walking distance of the house we were renting near Sunset Cliffs. Jamie and Luna spent hours there everyday.

In addition to running and playing on the beach, she also took a lot of her own pictures of Luna and the other dogs:

If I lived in this area, I would probably be out at this beach with my camera nearly every day. But since we are almost 600 miles away, it’s just going to have to be a once or twice a year thing I think.

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Luna clearly had the time of her life, but we definitely learned that parking at Coronado is a mission! Have you ever braved the San Diego crowds with your pups, or do you have a secret, quieter dog beach we should check out on our next trip? Tell me your favorites in the comments!

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Every photo tells a story, and stories are better with company. If you enjoyed this glimpse into our life in the Sky Islands (and beyond), please pass it along to a fellow explorer. Thank you!