World City Guide

Key Attractions

Key Attractions
SeaWorld
For many, the name SeaWorld is synonymous with San Diego. The 77-hectare (190-acre) marine park is one of California’s most popular attractions and for good reason. In addition to being a leader in marine conservation, it is one of the few entertainment parks in which visitors can experience an ‘up close and personal’ encounter with some of the world’s largest marine animals.

Built in 1964, the park is best known for its work with killer whales (now known as Orcas) and dolphins. Acrobatic stunts, featuring the Orca whales, Shamu, Baby Shamu and Namu, highlight the unusual behaviours and talents of trained marine mammals. The Dolphin Interaction Program (DIP) offers visitors a chance to help in the feeding of dolphins and to experience what it is like to ‘swim’ with one of the world’s most unusual warm-water residents.

The ‘Wild Arctic’ simulated flight transports visitors outside Southern California to the world of the walrus, polar bear and beluga whale. The show imitates the feel and view of a jet helicopter flying high above one of the world’s most forbidding landscapes.

Adventure rides are a new and popular attraction at SeaWorld, for example the ‘Shipwreck Rapids’ ride steers participants down turbulent river rapids, through an underground cavern and past menacing looking traps.

500 SeaWorld Drive
Tel: (619) 226 3901. Fax: (619) 226 3952.
Website: www.seaworld.com
Transport: Bus 9 or 24.
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1700 (basic hours); hours vary according to season and day of month/week – longest peak hours 0900-2300 (summer).
Admission: US$42.95.

Balboa Park
One of San Diego’s oldest natural reserves, this 485.6-hectare (1200-acre) park is an easy walk from Downtown San Diego and is a favourite landmark for locals and visitors alike. On summer weekends, the park is filled with acrobats and musicians. Its exquisitely landscaped paths and meadows are over 100 years old, although Balboa Park’s signature building, the Casa del Prado, was built for the 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition, to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal. The building’s ornate Colonial-style architecture, high archways and tiled walkways have been meticulously preserved through the years.

The main street in the park is El Prado, around which there are over 15 museums – one to suit just about any interest and historical focus. The park is also home to the San Diego Zoo (see below) and the House of Pacific Regions, an international display of culture, food and customs that is held every Sunday 1200-1700.

The Park’s oldest and most famous museum is the Reuben H Fleet Science Center, with exhibits that range from archaeology and history to Michael Jordan and basketball. It has an on-site planetarium and regularly hosts IMAX wide-screen movies with a strong educational flavour. Some of the other most celebrated museums include the Automotive Museum (featuring over 80 classic models of car and motorbike), the Museum of Man (noted to have exceptional exhibits on anthropology and archaeology), the San Diego Aerospace Museum (covering the beginning of flight to Man’s most recent advances in space travel) and the Museum of Art (regularly featuring artists from around the world).

Art-lovers will find a wide range of topics, artists and mediums to explore throughout the Park’s many art museums, such as the Museum of Photographic Arts, the Timken Museum of Art and the San Diego Art Institute. There are also cultural centres, such as Centro Cultural de la Raza (an interdisciplinary centre that promotes and provides resources for Mexican, Chicano and indigenous art and culture) and WorldBeat Center (dedicated to promoting understanding and appreciation of African cultures and music).

Other attractions include Japanese Friendship Garden, Mingei International Museum, San Diego Hall of Champions, San Diego Historical Society Museum, San Diego Junior Theatre, San Diego Model Railroad Museum, San Diego Natural History Museum, The Globe Theatres, United Nations Building and the Veteran’s Memorial Center Museum.

Central entrances are at Sixth Avenue and El Prado, and Park Avenue and Village Place
Tel: (619) 235 1100 or 239 0512 (House of Hospitality).
Website: www.balboapark.org
Transport: Bus 7.

Reuben H Fleet Science Center
1875 El Prado
Tel: (619) 238 1233.
Website: www.rhfleet.org
Opening hours: Sat-Thurs 0930-2000, Fri 0930-2145.
Admission: US$6.75 (exhibit galleries); US$11.50 (exhibit galleries and one IMAX film); US$15 (exhibit galleries and two IMAX films).

Automotive Museum
2080 Pan American Plaza
Tel: (619) 231 2886. Fax: (619) 231 9869
E-mail: info@sdautomuseum.org
Website: www.sdautomuseum.org
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1700.
Admission: US$7.

Museum of Man
1350 El Prado
Tel: (619) 239 2001. Fax: (619) 239 2749.
E-mail: mail@museumofman.org
Website: www.museumofman.org
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1630.
Admission: US$6.

San Diego Aerospace Museum
2001 Pan American Plaza
Tel: (619) 234 8291. Fax: (619) 233 4527.
Website: www.aerospacemuseum.org
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1630 (regular hours); daily 1000-1730 (summer).
Admission: US$8.

Museum of Art
1450 El Prado
Tel: (619) 232 7931. Fax: (619) 232 9367.
Website: www.sdmart.org
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-1800; Thurs 1000-2100.
Admission: US$8.

Museum of Photographic Arts
1649 El Prado
Tel: (619) 238 7559. Fax: (619) 238 8777
E-mail: info@mopa.org
Website: www.mopa.org
Opening hours: Fri-Wed 1000-1700; Thurs 1000-2100.
Admission: US$6 (gallery); US$5 (theatre).

Timken Museum of Art
1500 El Prado
Tel: (619) 239 5548.
Website: http://gort.ucsd.edu/sj/timken/
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-1630; Sun 1330-1630.
Admission: Free.

San Diego Art Institute
1439 El Prado.
Tel: (619) 236 0011. Fax: (619) 236 1974.
Website: www.sandiego-art.org
Opening hours: Tues-Sat 1000-1600; Sun 1200-1600.
Admission: US$3.

San Diego Zoo
Known for its conservation efforts, the San Diego Zoo is one of the only zoos to have successfully bred pandas in captivity. It maintains several endangered species exhibits and works with reserves and conservation groups worldwide, to encourage protection of threatened wildlife. The 40.5-hectare (100-acre) reserve has rambling scenic walkways for foot travel, or can be enjoyed by a narrated bus tour.

One of its newest attractions is the Ituri Forest Exhibit, modelled after the African tropical forest of the same name. The 1.6-hectare (4-acre) exhibit features a life-size model of a traditional Mbuti camp and an underwater viewing area of the forest’s aquatic residents. The zoo’s Sun Bear exhibit is home to several Malayan sun bears, known best for the unusual sun-coloured crescents on their chest and their playful comical nature. The Zoo also houses an exhibit of lowland gorillas, which are known for their size and remarkable agility. Tiger River is one of the zoo’s more remarkable exhibits – the animal enclosures are situated along a winding, misty trail amid waterfalls, grassy knolls and a tropical forest of more than 5000 types of exotic plants. This mini rainforest features tigers, Burmese pythons, Malaysian tapirs and narrow-snouted crocodiles called Gavials. The Polar Bear Plunge is also not to be missed – home as it is to several polar bears in a simulated Arctic tundra environment. The Zoo hosts several ‘after dark’ events, including live music performances and up-close animal encounters.

Park Avenue and Zoo Place
Tel: (619) 675 7900. Fax: (619) 557 3970.
Website: www.sandiegozoo.org
Transport: Bus 7.
Opening hours: Daily 0800-1600 (basic opening hours); varies according to season.
Admission: US$19.50 (regular admission); US$32 (deluxe admission with bus ride and Skyfari aerial tram ride).

Birch Aquarium at Scripps
Scripps Institute of Oceanography is one of the pioneers in oceanographic studies. Visitors can get a glimpse of some of the Institute’s more unique projects at its Birch Aquarium. Public presentations and displays include lectures, whale-watching expeditions, tide-pooling trips for families and live cam demonstrations of the Institute’s current research programmes.

Among its more impressive exhibits is the Kelp Forest, a giant live exhibit of one of nature’s more impressive habitats. It is home to thousands of different kinds of sea life, from leopard sharks to the minuscule kelp fish that survive in camouflage along the leaves of the tall plant. A video camera provides a close-up view of many of the Aquarium’s inhabitants. The sea dragon exhibit features the Aquarium’s newest inhabitant, a miniature sea horse that actually looks more like a tiny dragon. The Aquarium’s Jelly Tanks are home to some of the more beautiful and exotic types of jellyfish in the world, such as moon jellys, the lion mane jellys and the purple-striped jellys.

2300 Expedition Way, La Jolla
Tel: (858) 534 FISH/3474. Fax: (858) 534 7114.
E-mail: cclarke@ucsd.edu
Website: www.aquarium.ucsd.edu
Transport: Bus 34 or 150.
Opening hours: Daily 0900-1700.
Admission: US$9.50.

Old Town State Park
San Diego’s Old Town is where California’s Spanish history first began. The area is home to the famous Presidio mission, which was established by 18th-century Spanish missionaries in 1769. Situated on the grassy knolls above San Diego Bay, the Presidio (Spanish for ‘fort’) commands a stunning view of the city, Old Town proper and the Californian coastline. Visitors can wander the Presidio’s immaculately sculpted gardens or visit the historical museum and mission located within the fort.

The Old Town State Park includes a number of residential and commercial buildings down the hill from the Presidio in the main part of Old Town. The old school house and blacksmith’s building, both of which were constructed of adobe in the early 1800s, are some of Old Town’s last remaining pioneer structures. Mexican curio shops and restaurants are scattered throughout the Old Town residential area, which is now one of San Diego’s upper-class neighbourhoods. The Bazaar del Mundo (World Bazaar) is a shopping area with a number of well-known Mexican restaurants. Surrounded by elegantly sculpted water fountains and lush green scenery, it features Mariachi music most summer evenings. Old Town also has its own popular live theatre, which attracts large crowds throughout the summer months.

San Diego Avenue and Twiggs Street
Tel: (619) 220 5422.
Website: www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=663
Transport: Bus 9, 34, 34A or 44; trolley ‘Mission San Diego’.
Opening hours: Daily 1000 1700.
Admission: Free.