Pacific Beach

Pacific Beach is the sand crescent on the Pacific side of the peninsula just north of Mission Beach in San Diego. Crystal Pier stands at the foot of Garnet Avenue, with hotel cottages built out over the surf at its base. The pier is privately owned by Crystal Pier Hotel and Cottages, and the public is allowed walk-around access during posted hours. Garnet Avenue runs east from the pier through the bar and restaurant strip of the neighborhood. The boardwalk continues north from Mission Beach all the way to Tourmaline Surf Park at the foot of Tourmaline Street, which marks the north end of Pacific Beach and the south end of the La Jolla coast.

The bottom across the named beach is sand, with breaking surf and no rocky reef or kelp anywhere offshore of the crescent, which places the spot in a surf zone biome.

Surfing and swimming carry most of the use, and hook-and-line surf fishing is common alongside them. With no rock or kelp to hold fish in close, spearfishing, snorkeling, and scuba are all uncommon here.

The free street parking on the residential blocks fills before 9 a.m. on summer weekends. Garnet Avenue near the pier has paid lots and metered street parking, and the Tourmaline Surf Park lot at the north end is the easier alternative once Garnet is full. Fishing and spearfishing are legal here under standard California regulations. The Title 14 Section 1.88 pier exclusion does not apply at Crystal Pier, since the regulation covers public piers only and Crystal Pier is privately owned.