2805 Emerson Street
San Diego, CA 92106
(619) 223-1109

Point Loma Seafood is a fabulous place for lunch for all you seafood lovers. The place is located near Shelter Island close to the airport and set on the edge of the marina. You can eat in the indoor patio or outside at picnic tables. The service is quick and friendly but don’t stand in the way of those that know what they want if you are still undecided.
I’ll never forget the first time I had lunch there when I arrived a little early and joined about a dozen or so other people already there. While waiting for the doors to open several of us started chatting about where we were from and the best places to visit in San Diego. Meanwhile a group of locals were standing as close to the doors as possible and as soon as they opened it was pretty obvious why. There was a mad dash to the counter and all the locals started yelling their orders to the 5 or 6 servers behind it. We all got into the game and after hemming and hawing a bit over the menu started putting in our orders. The food arrived amazingly quickly and was so fresh they must have had someone out back with a fishing pole in the water.

You can also buy fresh seafood to take home including fish smoked on the premises. If you enjoy deep-sea fishing you can drop off your catch of the day and they will clean, fillet and smoke it all for you.

This is the type of place that makes you stop and wonder why you don’t live in San Diego – the sun, the views, and the food.

Cabrillo National Park

There’s no better way to start showing a guest around San Diego than taking them to Cabrillo Point. With incredible views of San Diego, Mexico on a clear day, whale watching during certain months, as well as a lesson in the history of the area, it’s a great start to a vacation for anyone, no matter their age.

Why do I like Cabrillo Point so much? There is so much to do and see. The park highlights some of the early history of San Diego. Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo landed close to the point and the park commemorates his landing.

Start off at the information center and walk around the museum. Enjoy the exhibits and learn about Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo. You can visit this page for further information

The Juan Rodrigues Cabrillo monument offers stunning views of San Diego and Coronado Island. On a clear day you can see for many miles into Mexico and all the way to the Cuyamaca Mountains which might be covered in snow during the winter months. With San Diego being home to a major navy base you might even see an aircraft carrier slowly passing by the point. And while taking in all the sights how many languages do you hear around you while you take in the views?

From the monument take a slow walk up to the old lighthouse. As you walk take note of all the plants, which are native to California. When you arrive at the lighthouse you can explore the main lighthouse that has been refurbished to show life in the 1800s, and the assistant keepers quarters with interactive features.

Further on past the lighthouse is the lookout point, where you can watch the ocean for water spouts (binoculars recommended). A waterspout is a clear indicator that there are whales in the area. It is possible to spot whales during the months November through March. The whales migrate south to the bays of Baja, Mexico, to give birth and nurse their young before heading back north up the coast for the rich feeding grounds of the arctic.

A great way to end your visit to Point Loma is to drive down to the tide pools on your way out. Just past the exit turn left to go down the hill where you’ll pass the new lighthouse on your way to the tide pools. On a warm day this is a great place to picnic and climb along the rocks.

I’m sure you’ve noticed that throughout this entry all the web pages I’ve cited belong to http://www.nps.gov. The National Park Service offers a wealth of information for all parks nation-wide. Remember to take care of our parks when you visit by taking out all the trash you carry in.

I've occasionally heard that the Point Loma peninsula is hollow. The story is that the Navy hollowed it out and installed huge fuel tanks inside of it during World War II. While visiting Cabrillo National Monument I took the opportunity to ask the park ranger in the visitor center if there was any truth to this claim, or if it's just an urban legend. He assured me it was an urban legend.

According to the ranger, the Navy does maintain large fuel tanks on Point Loma, but for the most part they're above ground. There may be one or two small underground tanks, but there's no massive underground cistern. However, the ranger did say that Point Loma is riddled with underground tunnels, but they're off-limits to the public. He also said that if you want massive underground fuel tanks, you need to go to Hawaii. After Pearl Harbor the military realized the potential vulnerability of having above-ground fuel tanks there. If the Japanese had targeted the fuel tanks instead of the ships, they could have crippled the entire American fleet. Realizing this, the military subsequently moved the tanks on Hawaii underground.