La Jolla
La Jolla means the jewel, and the village sits above a series of coves where a protected marine reserve brings sea lions, leopard sharks and kelp forest within swimming distance of the shore. Snorkel the cove in the morning, walk the Coast Walk trail, and visit the Salk Institute at sunset, where Louis Kahn's travertine courtyard opens straight at the Pacific.
Why go
A marine reserve at the shoreline — sea lions, leopard sharks and kelp forest within swimming distance. Cliff walks — the Coast Walk between coves, and Torrey Pines further north. The Salk Institute — Louis Kahn's travertine courtyard, open to walk, facing the Pacific. A village on a headland — San Diego's most walkable neighbourhood, on a promontory of its own.
The character
La Jolla is a headland north of San Diego where the coast turns and the seabed drops away almost immediately — a submarine canyon comes within a few hundred metres of the shore, which is why the water is cold, clear and unusually full of life. The San Diego–La Jolla Underwater Park protects six thousand acres of it, and the result is that a swimmer at the Cove shares the water with sea lions and, in summer, thousands of harmless leopard sharks.
That marine richness attracted science before it attracted anyone else. Scripps Institution of Oceanography was founded here in 1903, and in 1960 Jonas Salk chose the cliff above for his institute, asking Louis Kahn to design something he could bring Picasso to. Kahn's answer — two rows of concrete and teak laboratories flanking an empty travertine plaza with a single channel of water running to the horizon — is among the finest buildings in America and free to walk into. La Jolla is therefore a rare combination: an expensive coastal village that is also a serious scientific centre, with the ocean as the reason for both.
Places of character
La Jolla Cove — snorkel here in the morning; the sea lions are on the rocks and the visibility is best early. Salk Institute — Kahn's courtyard, open to visitors on weekdays; stand at the west end at sunset if you can. Coast Walk Trail — a cliff path from the Cove north past caves and viewpoints, twenty minutes. Torrey Pines State Reserve — the rarest pine in America on eroded sandstone bluffs, with trails to the beach. Birch Aquarium — Scripps's public face, on the hill, with the kelp tank and the whole coast below. Windansea — the surf break south of the village, with a 1946 palm-thatched shack that is a historic landmark.
The way to do it
Swim or snorkel first thing, before the wind and the crowd. Visit the Salk on a weekday, when the courtyard is open and empty. Walk the cliffs rather than driving between viewpoints. And go north to Torrey Pines for a morning — it is the last stretch of coastal southern California that looks as it did.
One perfect day
Into the water at the Cove by eight, with sea lions on the rocks and the kelp visible below. Coffee and breakfast in the village, then the Coast Walk north along the cliffs. Late morning at the Salk Institute: the travertine plaza, the channel of water, and the sense of scale Kahn built for. Lunch of fish tacos. Afternoon at Torrey Pines walking down to the beach and back up the Guy Fleming trail. Back for a swim at Windansea and the surfers at the shack. Sunset from the cliffs, dinner in the village, and a last look at the water in the dark.
Grand hotels
La Valencia — 1926, pink, on the cliff above the Cove, and the village's landmark since it opened. Lodge at Torrey Pines — a Craftsman-style lodge on the golf course above the reserve.
When to go
Best expression: September and October — warmest water of the year, no marine layer, and clear visibility. Consider: July for the leopard sharks in the shallows at the Shores. Avoid if possible: May and June, when "May grey" and "June gloom" keep the coast under cloud.
The frame
Ideal stay 2 nights · Minimum 1 night · Best arrival by air to San Diego, then twenty minutes north · Airport SAN, 20 km · Walkability the village yes; the coast needs a car or bus · Best without a car possible, with buses