Ocean Beach
Ocean Beach
When visiting San Diego, you’ve got to make it out to at least one of the beaches. There are four main ones within an hour of the Gaslamp Quarter traveling by train and/or bus. In addition to the two I visited this trip, there’s also Mission Beach, where you’ll find SeaWorld, and Imperial Beach in the southern end of the city.
The first half of the route to get to either beach when taking public transit from the Gaslamp Quarter can be the same for both Ocean and Pacific Beach. I found it easiest to take the train to Old Town. You can catch the train along E. Harbor Drive at the corners of Fifth or Front Streets, Seaport Village, and the Sante Fe Station area. Hop on the green line to Old Town and then catch any of the buses going to Ocean or Pacific Beach.
There’ll be signs at Old Town Station to tell you where to go to catch the buses.
The trains and buses run enough during the day you don’t have to really worry about schedules. Just get to a station to hop on a train and go – you’ll rarely wait more than fifteen minutes. However, you want to pay attention to when the buses run back to Old Town or downtown San Diego in the evening. Make sure you check the schedule closely once nighttime falls or you might have to Uber or Lyft back to the hostel.
The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System is well-run and provides easy access to information on routes and times.
Ocean Beach had a tremendous impact on me when I was young and first wandered over this way, and since I had my sister with me for a day, I wanted to show her it. So, Ocean Beach became my second priority stop after the Seaport Village. She loved it!
The thing that struck me when I came here 28 years ago was the same thing that struck me when I returned – this place is where you’re going to find authentic hippies and other peaceful alternative thinkers living in a quasi-bohemian-type atmosphere. You’ll see men and women in their fifties and sixties in good shape riding skateboards down the street or grabbing a wetsuit to do a little surfing while older hippies smoke doobies while sitting against trees watching the more active people.
Ocean Beach isn’t really big, but there’s a bit packed into the community to keep it interesting.
The Making of Ocean Beach
The area was originally called Hapai by the Kumeyaay people who came here to catch mussels, clams, lobsters, and abalone tuna. Later, when Europeans arrived, the name was changed to Mussel Beach in recognition of the bounty of mussels the seashore area by the mouth of the San Diego River provided.
Then, in 1867, two entrepreneurs by the names of Billy Carlson and Albert E. Higgins put in streets and lots as they started to build a town they named Ocean Beach into a resort-type area. They even held a large mussel roast to attract people to come on down and check out the area in hopes they’d buy a lot for sixty dollars. However, the 1890s brought economic turmoil and the real estate venture collapsed. As did Billy Carlson, who off of the initial success of Ocean Beach, led the spirited young man to develop other areas around San Diego before becoming “Boy Mayor” of the city in 1893. He went to prison a few years later for selling titles to land he didn’t own.
D.C. Collier
As a young man of 16, D.C. Collier bought a lot from Carlson and Higgins. He also hung on after their venture collapsed and those men moved onto other things. He took charge of the area by having electrical supply lines strung to the beach, made sure the main streets got paved, and, most importantly, made the beach accessible by having a street car line put in to bring people from the city to the beach. A fantastic amusement park, called the Wonderland, was built and soon people were flocking to the beach in droves. A storm took the amusement park out shortly after it was built, but Ocean Beach was on its way to becoming a community and a place where laid-back people like to hang out.
As a young man of 16, D.C. Collier bought a lot from Carlson and Higgins. He also hung on after their venture collapsed and those men moved onto other things. He took charge of the area by having electrical supply lines strung to the beach, made sure the main streets got paved, and, most importantly, made the beach accessible by having a street car line put in to bring people from the city to the beach. A fantastic amusement park, called the Wonderland, was built and soon people were flocking to the beach in droves. A storm took the amusement park out shortly after it was built, but Ocean Beach was on its way to becoming a community and a place where laid-back people like to hang out.
The Beach
There are two ways to get to Ocean Beach using public transportation. I grabbed the green train at the station between fifth and Sixth on E. Harbor Drive to get to Old Town. The station is about a five minute walk from the hostels in the Gaslamp Quarter. From there, I went to the Station outside of Old Town and caught the 35 into Ocean Beach. When I got to the corner of Cable and Voltaire, I got off.
I walked over to W. Point Loma Blvd and found a path to the San Diego River Trail.
That's a small stream on the right, not the river.
I took the trail up past Dog Beach to the ocean, turned left, and headed toward the Ocean Beach pier about a two-fifths of a mile away. The walking was sweet as the cool water washed up on shore and chilled my naked feet. I went to one of the bathrooms and used a foot shower to get the heavy sand that has collected on my skin once I reached the business section of OB just north of the pier.
Just so you know, if you take the 923 from downtown San Diego (which is also a nice ride), you’ll come to the corner of Cable and Voltaire as well.
The Beach
That's a small stream on the right, not the river.
There are two ways to get to Ocean Beach using public transportation. I grabbed the green train at the station between fifth and Sixth on E. Harbor Drive to get to Old Town. The station is about a five minute walk from the hostels in the Gaslamp Quarter. From there, I went to the Station outside of Old Town and caught the 35 into Ocean Beach. When I got to the corner of Cable and Voltaire, I got off.
I walked over to W. Point Loma Blvd and found a path to the San Diego River Trail.
I took the trail up past Dog Beach to the ocean, turned left, and headed toward the Ocean Beach pier about a two-fifths of a mile away. The walking was sweet as the cool water washed up on shore and chilled my naked feet. I went to one of the bathrooms and used a foot shower to get the heavy sand that has collected on my skin once I reached the business section of OB just north of the pier.
Just so you know, if you take the 923 from downtown San Diego (which is also a nice ride), you’ll come to the corner of Cable and Voltaire as well.
Newport Avenue
Newport Avenue became the commercial center of Newport after the Wonderland Amusement Park was destroyed by storms and people figured out it was best to be a little further away from the waves – not much further, mind you, but enough where waves didn’t knock down buildings.
Now it’s a street where you’ll find some nice bars, restaurants, trinket stores, and a small grocery store. Street hippies play guitar or some other instruments in doorways hoping you’ll drop a dollar or two in their buckets. Some are pretty good and some not so much. But, hey, if you’re trying to do something besides just have a cup out, you’ll usually get a buck or two out of me. Sometimes more if what you do touches my heart.
You’ll notice street-side structures to allow outside diners here, too.
Newport Avenue
Newport Avenue became the commercial center of Newport after the Wonderland Amusement Park was destroyed by storms and people figured out it was best to be a little further away from the waves – not much further, mind you, but enough where waves didn’t knock down buildings.
Now it’s a street where you’ll find some nice bars, restaurants, trinket stores, and a small grocery store. Street hippies play guitar or some other instruments in doorways hoping you’ll drop a dollar or two in their buckets. Some are pretty good and some not so much. But, hey, if you’re trying to do something besides just have a cup out, you’ll usually get a buck or two out of me. Sometimes more if what you do touches my heart.
You’ll notice street-side structures to allow outside diners here, too.
Pubs & Restaurants
There’s some sweet bars and restaurants around the corner of Newport and Abbot along the beach. I liked stopping for breakfast and lunch at Old Town Restaurant a couple of times while I was in beach on different days. The food, atmosphere, and prices were excellent – the place had a really small town community feel to it. Make sure you get there early as it closes at 2 pm everyday.
On the same side of Newport as the restaurant as you head back top the beach is BBQ House Bar & Grill, where I stopped in one afternoon for a beer. I liked to open patios and dark wooden front area. I found the place comfortable and they had a few good TVs to watch sports on. Something I like to do when sipping a beer – especially football and hockey, but I’ll settle for just about anything.
Across the street is the Sunshine Company Saloon. The saloon surprised me. When I first came in, I sat at a long bar in a dark room with nobody else around except the bartender and some girl passes through. Then I noticed there was another part on the other side of the building. I grabbed my beer and walked over into an open-air ceiling room with a large screen TV. In the back part was a nice area where the pool tables and bathrooms are located. Definitely has a nice laid-back beach feel to it.
Over on Abbott, around the corner from Newport, there’s Wonderland Ocean Pub, a bar and restaurant upstairs in a small complex with the OB Surf Lodge and Blue Water Seafood restaurants. It’s named after the Wonderland Amusement Park originally built about a half mile north of the pub’s location around Abbott and Voltaire Streets along the beach and has various pictures of OB of old on the walls. The views of Ocean Beach are phenomenal from the large windows surrounding the front end of the bar.
Pubs & Restaurants
There’s some sweet bars and restaurants around the corner of Newport and Abbot along the beach. I liked stopping for breakfast and lunch at Old Town Restaurant a couple of times while I was in beach on different days. The food, atmosphere, and prices were excellent – the place had a really small town community feel to it. Make sure you get there early as it closes at 2 pm everyday.
On the same side of Newport as the restaurant as you head back top the beach is BBQ House Bar & Grill, where I stopped in one afternoon for a beer. I liked to open patios and dark wooden front area. I found the place comfortable and they had a few good TVs to watch sports on. Something I like to do when sipping a beer – especially football and hockey, but I’ll settle for just about anything.
Across the street is the Sunshine Company Saloon. The saloon surprised me. When I first came in, I sat at a long bar in a dark room with nobody else around except the bartender and some girl passes through. Then I noticed there was another part on the other side of the building. I grabbed my beer and walked over into an open-air ceiling room with a large screen TV. In the back part was a nice area where the pool tables and bathrooms are located. Definitely has a nice laid-back beach feel to it.
Over on Abbott, around the corner from Newport, there’s Wonderland Ocean Pub, a bar and restaurant upstairs in a small complex with the OB Surf Lodge and Blue Water Seafood restaurants. It’s named after the Wonderland Amusement Park originally built about a half mile north of the pub’s location around Abbott and Voltaire Streets along the beach and has various pictures of OB of old on the walls. The views of Ocean Beach are phenomenal from the large windows surrounding the front end of the bar.
“NOT ALL THOSE WHO WANDER ARE LOST.”
J.R.R. TOLKIEN
“NOT ALL THOSE WHO WANDER ARE LOST.”
J.R.R. TOLKIEN
Festivities
One thing about stopping over at Ocean Beach is there always seem to be something going on. There’s festivities and other activities along the streets and beaches to entertain and welcome people throughout the year and week. However, things are come and go as the pandemic still works its way through in 2021. Many regular events have now been cancelled until 2022.However, when things are cooking, On Wednesdays, people come to the beach to participate in a weekly Drum Circle and Fire Dancing get-together. Participants and watchers start gathering around 3 pm and dance and drum until the sun fades over the horizon and only the fire silhouettes bodies dancing and drumming against a night sky. A Farmer’s Market also normally takes place on Wednesdays from 4 – 8 pm along Newport. On the Wednesday I was there, there was also a small food festival running from roughly noonish to the start of the Farmer’s Market.
Festivities
One thing about stopping over at Ocean Beach is there always seem to be something going on. There’s festivities and other activities along the streets and beaches to entertain and welcome people throughout the year and week. However, things are come and go as the pandemic still works its way through in 2021. Many regular events have now been cancelled until 2022.However, when things are cooking, On Wednesdays, people come to the beach to participate in a weekly Drum Circle and Fire Dancing get-together. Participants and watchers start gathering around 3 pm and dance and drum until the sun fades over the horizon and only the fire silhouettes bodies dancing and drumming against a night sky. A Farmer’s Market also normally takes place on Wednesdays from 4 – 8 pm along Newport. On the Wednesday I was there, there was also a small food festival running from roughly noonish to the start of the Farmer’s Market.
The Pier
Ocean Beach Pier was opened on July 2, 1966, to a crowd of thousands as Gov. Pat Brown cut the ribbon and went fishing at the end of the pier long enough to take a few pictures before handing the pole back and washing his hands.
The pier, when fully opened, is a peaceful place and a nice location to watch people fishing for their daily meal or to relax after a day at work. The sunsets can be spectacular from the end of the piers, especially on nights where far away clouds cast a bright orange over the horizon.
The pier is currently undergoing an enormous amount of stress recently. There has been a lot of deterioration to the concrete structure and pillars that needs attention as outlined in this article, but a storm in January, 2021, almost wiped out the cafe area. The area past the cafe has remained closed to the public since because of damage to the railings. There are changes coming and probably soon since it didn’t seem like the pier was going to fully re-open until it has been restored in one way or the other.
The Pier
Ocean Beach Pier was opened on July 2, 1966, to a crowd of thousands as Gov. Pat Brown cut the ribbon and went fishing at the end of the pier long enough to take a few pictures before handing the pole back and washing his hands.
The pier, when fully opened, is a peaceful place and a nice location to watch people fishing for their daily meal or to relax after a day at work. The sunsets can be spectacular from the end of the piers, especially on nights where far away clouds cast a bright orange over the horizon.
The pier is currently undergoing an enormous amount of stress recently. There has been a lot of deterioration to the concrete structure and pillars that needs attention as outlined in this article, but a storm in January, 2021, almost wiped out the cafe area. The area past the cafe has remained closed to the public since because of damage to the railings. There are changes coming and probably soon since it didn’t seem like the pier was going to fully re-open until it has been restored in one way or the other.