Sunny Jim Sea Cave

On our list of the best activities in San Diego.

A tunnel dug by hand in 1902 drops 145 wooden steps through the sandstone cliffs below La Jolla Cove, ending at a sea cave first opened as a tourist stop by the German entrepreneur who built it, Gustav Schultz. Author L. Frank Baum gave it its name after visiting and comparing its mouth to a cereal-box mascot. Tours are self-guided and first-come, first-served, roughly fifteen to twenty minutes down and back, with no reservations.