Where San Diego’s cliffs meet the Pacific, 200-million-year-old caves open up to visitors

La Jolla’s cliffs hide more than you’d think

La Jolla sits on the San Diego coast about 20 minutes north of downtown, where sandstone cliffs drop straight into the Pacific.

The name likely comes from a Kumeyaay word meaning “land of holes,” a nod to the sea caves carved into the rock below.

Some people call it “The Jewel,” from the Spanish word “joya,” though scholars have never settled the debate. Either way, the place earns both names.

The caves are just the beginning, and the water around them holds a few surprises of its own.

Kumeyaay roots and a railroad that changed everything

The Kumeyaay people lived along this stretch of coast for thousands of years before anyone else showed up. In the 1880s, land speculators carved the area into lots and called it La Jolla Park.

A railroad linking the community to San Diego went in during the 1890s, and the resort crowd followed.

Ellen Browning Scripps, a philanthropist who put serious money into the area, funded landmarks you can still see today. La Jolla became part of San Diego when California joined the union in 1850.

Seven caves line the cliffs between two beaches

Between La Jolla Cove and La Jolla Shores, seven sea caves sit carved into sandstone that formed over millions of years.

They go by names like White Lady, Little Sister, Shopping Cart, Sea Surprize, Arch Cave, Sunny Jim Cave, and Clam’s Cave. Arch Cave runs the deepest.

Six of the seven are only visible from the water, so guided kayak tours are the way most people get a look. The caves line the edge of the La Jolla Ecological Reserve, one of California’s most protected marine zones.

Walk 145 steps through a hand-dug tunnel to Sunny Jim

Sunny Jim is the only La Jolla sea cave you can reach on foot.

In the early 1900s, a German immigrant named Gustav Schultz paid two workers to dig a tunnel from his property down through the cliffs to the cave below.

You can still walk those 145 steps today through The Cave Store, which has been open since 1905. The cave got its name because its opening looks like a cereal mascot from the turn of the century.

During Prohibition, smugglers reportedly used the tunnel to move illegal goods into San Diego.

Orange fish and sea lions own La Jolla Cove

La Jolla Cove is a small beach boxed in by cliffs and protected as part of the San Diego-La Jolla Underwater Park. Nobody fishes here.

You can’t even pick up a dead shell. That protection means the water is full of life, including bright orange garibaldi, California’s state marine fish, which show up in numbers you won’t see at most other beaches.

Sea lions haul out on the rocks and swim through the cove right alongside snorkelers. The calm, clear water makes it one of San Diego’s most popular spots to get in with a mask and fins.

Pregnant leopard sharks swim right up to your ankles

Every summer, hundreds of leopard sharks gather in the shallows off La Jolla Shores Beach. They show up as early as June and stick around through December, with the biggest crowds in August and September.

Nearly all of them are pregnant females. Scientists think the warm, sunlit water speeds up their gestation.

You can wade out in waist-deep water and find them just a few feet away. They’re completely harmless.

If you want a closer look, guided snorkeling tours run with marine naturalist guides who know where to find them.

A seawall built for kids now belongs to harbor seals

In 1931, Ellen Browning Scripps paid for a concrete seawall at Children’s Pool Beach to give kids a calm place to swim. Starting in the mid-1990s, harbor seals moved in.

They rest on the sand and raise their pups behind that same wall. Today you can watch them from the bluff and viewing areas above the beach.

From January through May, a rope barrier goes up on the sand to protect mothers and newborns during pupping season. The seals draw visitors year-round, and it costs nothing to watch.

One of America’s rarest pine trees grows on these bluffs

Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve covers about 2,000 acres of coastal land between La Jolla and Del Mar. The reserve protects the Torrey pine, which grows naturally in only two places on earth: here and on Santa Rosa Island, off the coast near Santa Barbara.

Eight miles of trails cut through the reserve, from the easy 0.7-mile Guy Fleming Trail loop to steeper routes that drop down to the beach.

Two overlooks along Guy Fleming give you views from La Jolla south to Penasquitos Marsh north. In winter, you might spot gray whales migrating offshore.

Float 350 feet above the Pacific on a paraglider

Torrey Pines Gliderport sits on bluffs 350 feet above the water and has been an active soaring site since 1930.

It holds a spot on the National Register of Historic Places, making it one of North America’s most storied aviation sites.

Tandem paragliding flights go out daily, last about 20 minutes, and take beginners of all ages over the ocean and coastline. If you’d rather stay on solid ground, the blufftop views stretch wide in every direction.

The on-site cafe serves food and drinks while gliders float right over your head.

Touch a sea star and meet a rescued loggerhead turtle

Birch Aquarium is the public center for the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.

More than 60 habitats hold over 380 species inside, from Little Blue Penguins to Weedy Seadragons to a rescued loggerhead sea turtle.

The Adam R. Scripps Living Seas Gallery walks you through ecosystems from the Pacific Northwest to tropical reefs. Outside, the Tide Pool Plaza lets you get your hands on local marine animals like sea stars.

The aquarium sits on the La Jolla cliffs with a straight view down to La Jolla Shores.

Surfers have rebuilt this beach shack since 1947

Windansea Beach is one of Southern California’s most well-known surf breaks. Reef and rock formations push up powerful waves that draw serious riders.

The beach takes its name from the Windansea Hotel, which stood here from 1909 until it burned down in 1943. In 1947, surfers returning from World War II built a palm-roofed shack on the sand.

San Diego made it a historical landmark in 1998. Storms have destroyed and locals have rebuilt it several times, most recently after a big swell knocked it down in 2015.

Sandstone formations frame both ends of the beach.

See three cities and Mexico from the top of Mt. Soledad

Mt. Soledad rises 822 feet above sea level and gives you a full 360-degree view. You can see the Pacific, downtown San Diego, Coronado, and on clear days, all the way to Mexico.

At the summit, the Mt. Soledad National Veterans Memorial honors more than 10,000 service members with individual black granite plaques showing names, photos, and personal stories.

The memorial covers every conflict from the Revolutionary War to the present. American Legion Post 275 of La Jolla started the project in 1952 and dedicated it in 1954.

The site is open daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. with free admission and free parking.

Explore the village and coastline in La Jolla, California

You can fly into San Diego International Airport and reach La Jolla in about 15 minutes heading north. Once you get to the village, leave the car.

Prospect Street and Girard Avenue are easy to walk, lined with galleries, cafes, and Warwick’s bookstore, which the same family has run since 1896.

The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego sits in a former Ellen Browning Scripps home designed by architect Irving Gill. From there, everything on the coast is close, and most of it is free.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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