Exploring San Diego Harbor: Seaport Village and More

After visiting Balboa Park, I still had enough time to see a different part of San Diego on the same day. So I went back to the downtown area and ended up in the harbor. The port area is relatively small but stretches all the way to the airport, if you want to take a long walk along the water for whatever reason. I started off with the Seaport Village, which is a so-called village consisting of souvenir, gift and tourist shops.

It also has some food options, in case you want to get a late-night snack here (soups and sandwiches and other small appetizers). There were also a couple of street artists performing and a mad pirate with a talking bird on his shoulder. Walking towards Midway, you come across more restaurants, which are indeed great dining options, as they offer authentic seafood and other great choices. Most have outdoor seating, although I did see quite a few places call in their customers after a certain time at night, so I believe a few hours after sunset you are only available to dine inside (but thanks to the glass windows you have a great panorama over the harbor).

Still continuing further on, you will come across Midway, which is a real aircraft carrier converted to a museum. San Diego is home to the Navy, and you can see a ton of Marines and Naval officers throughout the entire city. One of my friends recently joined the Navy in San Diego and on my second night out I had the chance to meet him and talk about his life in San Diego so far.

I made it all the way to Midway and then I took the ferry over to Coronado Island. By the time I got there it was already dark (and also pretty windy on my first night there). I therefore didn’t see much of the island itself but more of the souvenir shops, which were still open at that time of night. A ferry ride to and fro is $9.50 round trip.