Ocean Beach

Ocean Beach sits at the mouth of the San Diego River, immediately north of the Point Loma peninsula. From the foot of Newport Avenue, the Ocean Beach Pier reaches 1,971 feet into the Pacific and ends in a T, the longest concrete pier on the west coast of the United States. Storm damage closed it to the public in October 2023, and the City of San Diego is moving toward replacement rather than repair. Newport Avenue itself dead-ends at the pier and runs east from there through a strip of shops and restaurants. Dog Beach, at the north end and bounded by the San Diego River jetty, was among the first off-leash beaches established in San Diego. At the south end, the Ocean Beach Tide Pools sit against the base of the Sunset Cliffs and come into reach at low tide.

The bottom is sand across the named beach, and the small intertidal rock outcrops at the south end are the only exception. Waves breaking over that sand bottom make the beach a surf zone biome.

Surfing dominates the water. Lifeguarded swimming continues through the warmer months, and hook-and-line surf fishing is common alongside it. The absence of rocky structure or kelp on the main beach keeps spearfishing, snorkeling, and scuba uncommon, though the rocks at the south end draw tide-poolers at low water.

Several free public lots serve the beach: 110 spaces at the foot of Newport Avenue next to the pier, 68 at the foot of Santa Monica Avenue next to the main lifeguard station, and the lots at the foot of Voltaire Street and at Dog Beach. All of them fill on summer weekends, and metered street parking on the residential blocks is plentiful once the lots are gone. San Diego Municipal Code section 63.20.16 bars skin diving within 75 feet of any fishing pier the city owns or operates and bars carrying a fishing spear or spear gun onto one. Outside that exclusion, fishing and spearfishing are legal under standard California regulations.