Ellen Browning Scripps Park

On our list of the best activities in San Diego.

Named for the philanthropist in 1927 after four decades as La Jolla Park, this stretch of grass and clifftop bluff overlooks La Jolla Cove, where the annual open-water swim has run since 1931. Seals bask on the rocks below while pelicans dive offshore, and the city closed the adjacent Boomer Beach and Point La Jolla to people for seven years starting in 2023 to give a sea lion rookery room. Free and open around the clock, it carries benches and walking paths along roughly 1,500 feet of shoreline.