About Coronado Beach
Coronado Beach is a wide, white sand beach with plenty of room to find a place for the day, making it one of the better beaches in San Diego. There are restrooms and outdoor showers at two locations on the beach and lifeguards on duty all summer. The views from Coronado Beach are lovely with Point Loma to the west and Hotel Del Coronado to the east.
Coronado Beach is split into three sections – North Beach, Central Beach, and South Beach. North and Central are the most popular spots – North Beach is also a dog beach but has plenty of room for dogs and humans alike. North Beach has fire rings too for a sunset, nighttime bonfire (one of the best things you can do in San Diego). Central Beach is near the Hotel Del if you want to access their amenities. South Beach is outside of a row of condominiums so a bit harder to get to and a bit more narrow.
The downsides of Coronado Beach: parking is tough. There is free parking along the road by the beach, but this fills up very quick in the summer. For the most part, people part further into town at either street parking or a paid parking lot. There are a few paid lots, including the lots at Vons and Walgreens.
The other downside of Coronado Beach is the unfortunate Tijuana River sewage situation that can sometimes lead to unhealthy water all the way up in Coronado. The beaches were closed Memorial Day Weekend 2025 due to unhealthy levels of fecal bacteria. Please be safe and check the water quality before swimming.
Great For
• Soaking up the sun
• Kids
• Dogs
• Wide sandy beaches
A Closer Look
Coronado Island was uninhabited by Europeans until the late 1880s when a few wealthy investors bought the whole island and began construction of the Hotel Del at the same time as the patchwork of roads and properties that would make up the community of Coronado itself. So the community of Coronado and the hotel grew together. In 1917, North Island (the big Naval base north of Coronado Beach) was sold to the United States Navy for $5 million and it became the hub of Navy Aviation (Charles Lindbergh started his flight from there).
Coronado Beach is a public beach, managed by the city.
