Tag: La Jolla Beach

Posted in: Animal Sightings, Exploring California, Injuries, School, Sightseeing, YouTube Video Link

Sunny Jim’s Sea Cave

Written by tepetravels

There are 7 caves along the La Jolla coast. Most of them are accessible only by water, but Sunny Jim’s Cave can be walked to through The Cave Store.

The history of the Cave Store goes like this: Gustav Schultz, in 1902, hired two men to dig out a tunnel down to the cave. (It took 1.5 – 2 years to finish, depending on the information sources I read.) He then charged admission to walk down and see the cave. The original path did not have lights or stairs. The stairs were added in later. The store claims there is 145 steps; however, Will counted 142 (including the ones beginning at the store level).

The store employees said it is still the original foundation for the store, which is pretty cool! It’s a great hidden spot on the coast, so apparently smugglers also made use of the cave many years ago. There is still a charge for admission ($10/adults, $7/kids ages 3-17). You can also book your time online, as reservations are required due to COVID.

I definitely took the stairs slowly, as they were uneven, some slanted to one side, and some were wet from moisture dripping out of the rocks.

Once we entered the cave area, we saw a large sea lion resting on a rock in the cave. He had a fishing hook in his mouth. The store employees said he frequently comes in to the cave. Video: Walking Down the Tunnel to Sunny Jim’s Sea Cave

If you are in the area, I think it is definitely worth the trip to see it!

Other links about the cave/tunnel: Atlas Obscura, La Jolla.com

Posted in: Animal Sightings, Exploring California, School, Sightseeing, YouTube Video Link

La Jolla Cove: Hammocking, Sea Lions, and a Tunnel

Written by tepetravels 2 Comments on La Jolla Cove: Hammocking, Sea Lions, and a Tunnel

After our swimming in the ocean and exploring the boardwalk, we still had one last mission for the day: find a hammock spot. Ben had been wanting to hammock for awhile now. The last few campgrounds did not have areas close by to hammock at, and what says relaxation more than a hammock near the beach? I found a few hammock location recommendation online: Mission Beach-we had already been there and the park itself seemed crowded, Sunset Cliffs-gorgeous but we didn’t see any trees that would work, Torrey Pines Reserve-looked neat, but would probably be better if we spent more than just hammock time there.

We finally arrived at La Jolla Cove. This was a little further north than the Children’s Pool. We lucked out and found a parking spot nearby. I’ve got to say parking in San Diego is not meant for trucks. We saw several sea lions sun bathing on the rocks as we pulled in, as well as several groups of kayakers in the water.

Ben went to scope out the trees for hammock hanging, while we hunted down the bathrooms. The center there was under construction, so they had a line of port-a-lets near the street. Once Ben was in his hammock, the boys and I walked around and explored. We saw several spots where the sea lions were resting and sleeping in sleep piles. We even got to see a few baby seals! (People still amaze me, and not in a good way. There were people going right up to the babies. There were signs at the various beaches we’ve been to saying if you scare the mothers they may abandon their pups.) We heard a few of the sea lions vocalizing to each other in the water. (VIDEO: Sea Lions)

I went into the tunnel; neither one of the boys wanted to take their gym shoes off and come in with me! There were a couple of small fish among the rocks. It was pretty neat!

We headed back to the tree area. The boys grabbed their books and climbed up in a tree to read. I was one happy momma.

Back to Top