La Jolla Shores Beach and Sea Caves

La Jolla Shores Beach is full of active people getting ready to kayak to the sea caves. You can rent kayaks at one of several businesses on Avenida De La Playa, the main street nearby. The sea caves are absolutely gorgeous! If you want to rent kayaks, check the weather report and try to get a sunny day so that you can see the lovely color of the water. Sunshine is more likely in September and October, and in the afternoon. In May and June you are unlikely to ever have sunshine in the morning or even all day. The water is very cold in California, so know that there will be some slight suffering! 

It's fun to go for a long walk along La Jolla Shores Beach. On the south end is a mansion with magical architecture of arches, a winding staircase, and balconies galore with fancy balustrades. Here you can see the sea caves, which are stunning with their honeycomb cliffs topped with green plants and flowers. As you walk along, the shoreline is full of interesting minerals, rocks, driftwood, mussel shells, and kelp. Kids love to dig and play here. At the north end is Scripps Pier, part of UCSD- from the pier you can walk a steep hill up to wooded Pinpoint Cafe and have a coffee with students. Caroline's Seaside Cafe is near the pier, with a lovely glassed-in balcony over the sea. The sand is hardpacked so you can walk on it with your sneakers on, which is nice since the air is cold! If you don't want to walk on the sand, you can also stroll along the popular boardwalk! There are many benches along the boardwalk where you can sit and watch the happy beachgoers and kite flyers. 
Beside the beach is a huge park with grass to run on, low gnarled trees to climb, and a lovely playground. It is called Kellogg Park. The playground is on sand plus blue tire rubber. It has baby swings, regular swings, shade canopies, a twisty slide, three monkey bar spinners, a vertical spinner, a circular climby, a rope climby, a pretend lifeguard tower, a small rock-climbing wall with a scene of kelp and fish, plus a beautiful whale sculpture that kids love to lay on.
There is an interesting dark brown lifeguard stand the protrudes high into the air over the boardwalk.
I would like to return on a sunny day because there was a miserable heavy gloom the May day I visited.
After, sit on the terrace at Brick and Bell on Avenida de la Playa and have a cup of tea and a sandwich or pastry.

Directions

La Jolla Shores Beach is located at 8324 La Vereda, La Jolla, CA 92037. There is a large parking lot with free parking. Come early to get a spot!
La Jolla Sea Cave Kayaks Rental, 2164 Avenida De La Playa, La Jolla, open daily 9-6.

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