Coronado Island and Beach: Hotel del Coronado, Ferry Landing and Silver Strand

Separated from downtown San Diego by the deep blue channel of San Diego Bay and connected to the mainland to the south by the narrow sand spit of the Silver Strand, Coronado feels like a classic coastal resort town frozen in time. Technically a tied-island peninsula rather than a fully detached island, Coronado combines manicures tree-lined avenues, calm bayfront cycling paths, and one of the widest, flattest ocean beaches in North America. Whether you arrive by passenger ferry to admire the downtown skyline or cross the sweeping two-mile curve of the Coronado Bridge, we mapped out how to spend a full day across the bay.

Coronado Central Beach and the Historic Hotel del Coronado

At the western edge of Orange Avenue, the streets open directly onto Coronado Beach, a vast crescent of fine golden sand stretching for nearly two miles from Sunset Park at the northern tip (bordering Naval Air Station North Island) down to the stone jetties in the south. Because the sand contains natural deposits of the mineral mica, the wet shoreline literally sparkles in the sunlight like gold dust as the tide recedes. Protected to the northwest by the headland of Point Loma, the surf here is gentler than at many open-ocean beaches, making it ideal for wading, beginner boogie-boarding, and long sunset walks.

Anchoring the southern end of Central Beach is the legendary Hotel del Coronado ("The Del"). Opened in 1888, this National Historic Landmark is one of the largest all-wooden Victorian beach resorts still standing in the world, famous for its conical red-shingled turrets, white clapboard verandas, and crown-shaped chandeliers designed by Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum, as well as serving as the filming location for the 1959 Billy Wilder classic Some Like It Hot. Even if you are not an overnight guest, you can walk freely along the public beachfront promenade, explore the historic lobby and lower shopping arcades, grab an ice cream on the oceanfront Windsor Lawn, or skate on the outdoor ice rink set up right beside the sand during the winter holidays.

Coronado Ferry Landing, Tidelands Park and Orange Avenue

On the opposite (eastern) side of the peninsula facing downtown sits the Coronado Ferry Landing. Here, waterfront restaurants, boutique shops, and kayak rental docks look straight across the water toward the USS Midway Museum, the Embarcadero, and the downtown towers, making it the single best spot in San Diego to photograph the city skyline glowing at twilight. A paved bayshore bike path runs south from the Ferry Landing under the soaring concrete pillars of the bridge into Coronado Tidelands Park.

Connecting the bayside Ferry Landing to the ocean beach is Orange Avenue, Coronado's leafy main boulevard. Walking or cycling down Orange Avenue takes about twenty-five to thirty minutes end to end, passing independent bookshops, bakeries, burger joints, the Coronado Museum of History and Art, and the vintage art-deco Village Theatre.

Three Ways to Get to Coronado

• By Passenger Ferry (Most Scenic): Flagship Cruises operates passenger and bicycle ferries departing hourly from Broadway Pier and every thirty minutes from the San Diego Convention Center (Fifth Avenue Landing) straight to the Coronado Ferry Landing in fifteen minutes.
• By MTS Bus 901: Departs from downtown (12th & Imperial and Santa Fe Depot areas), crosses the dramatic San Diego-Coronado Bridge, and runs straight down Orange Avenue right to the front of the Hotel del Coronado.
• By Car or Bike via the Silver Strand: Drivers can cross the toll-free Coronado Bridge (State Route 75) or ride the scenic ten-mile Bayshore Bikeway south along the Silver Strand State Beach toward Imperial Beach.