About Bonfire At Ocean Beach
Having a beach bonfire is one of the best free things you can do in San Diego. Fires on the beach are legal in San Diego County, but must be in a designated city fire pit. You can have a propane-fueled device, similar to the parks, but this does not really provide the atmosphere you want for a nighttime bonfire, so buy some wood from one of the local convenient stores (they all have it).
Ocean Beach has several fire pits just south of Lifeguard Tower 5. You can park in the Dog Beach parking lot and the pits are straight out by the water, past the volleyball courts. Once the sun begins to set, start the fire and watch the twinkling lights of La Jolla brighten the hillside just up the coast to the north.
If you are lucky, you will see a bioluminescence event in the waves that night.
Fires are allowed until midnight.
Great For
• Free things to do
• Quintessential Californian things
• Getting outdoors
A Closer Look
Having a fire on the beach has been a quintessential part of the free and fun California culture for decades. It is more regulated now (must be in pits, etc), but the city maintains the fire pits and the rules for them and we thank them for keeping this tradition alive and legal.
