Coronado Island suggestions for tweens and how much time?

[echoesofspring]

I know there's a lot of SD threads, I tried to read them, not sure I read all the references for Coronado. We're going over spring break for 3 full days plus travel days on either side (it's a good 5 hr drive when traffic is good from where we live). I've booked a (refundable) hotel room on Coronado for the whole time, it gets a little pricy on the weekend. So I'm wondering if we should split our visit with another hotel off the island or just stay the whole time. How hard is it to get off island? Are we going to run out of things to do after we've rented bikes and rode around and poked around a bit? Or should we not worry and plan to just chill there? DD likes the beach, DS has a sensory thing about sand right now, but likes hikes/walks, exploring, going off on his own for little errands/purchases, and loves military things. Neither is big into museums, although I thought I might be able to cajole them into a historical walking tour. DD and I are going to a concert Sat night near the sports arena/Midway neighborhood, which is part of why I'm wondering if we should relocate Sat morning.

[Tenasparkl]

It's not a true island and is super easy to go back and forth over the bridge back into the rest of San Diego. You can also drive south down Coronado and connect at the bottom. We liked walking out on the pier in Imperial Beach.

We were just there over the holidays and had a great time. We found the Hotel Del to be too packed then but were glad to stay at a smaller place nearby all the restaurants etc. There's a cute candy store that my kids (teen & tween) loved. We also really liked Better Buzz coffee (so much so that I stopped & bought all kinds of stuff when I spotted one near our soccer tournament in Temecula last weekend).

[mom2binsd]

There is probably enough to do and if you want to go to other parts of the city, it's a car ride across the bridge to San Diego. There used to be a water taxi that would take you to the other side, you could go to the USS Midway museum (book tickets asap). By walking there.

You will probably want to spend time in La Jolla or other places as well, again, driving across the bridge isn't a huge issue but keep rush hour in mind.

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[California]

My mom loves Coronado Island! She owns a little rental there and that gives her a reason to visit. It reminds her of the way beach towns used to be when she was growing up. Except... the population on that 'island' is a lot wealthier. When she takes my teens they like to browse the shops on the main road and get lunch and gelato. If your son likes heading off on his own its a very safe place for him to explore. That would give your DD a chance to enjoy the beautiful beach. Just tell her to do the stingray shuffle- if I remember right stingrays are pretty common there.

We've rented bikes to cruise the boardwalks. Very pleasant way to spend a couple of hours.

I can't think of any real true hiking trails on the island. There are paved paths by the shoreline that your DS may enjoy. As PP mentioned it is not a real island, and the land connecting it to the south is the Silver Strand- there's a state park there, but the only "trails" I remember on the Silver Strand are paved for accessibility (I've walked them with my mom and there are tunnels that can take you from the beach side to the bay side.) All the boardwalks and paved paths may be perfect for your son if he doesn't want to get into the sand.

If your son likes hiking he may enjoy a day trip over to Torrey Pines in La Jolla. It's not too far from UCSD if your kids are at all interested in seeing the campus.

You can take the ferry to a pier that is close to Little Italy (great spot to head for lunch) and the Midway Museum. It's not a typical museum as it's an aircraft carrier. The Maritime Museum is also made up of boats and my kids loved that. You are bringing back good memories of family adventures :-) Worth checking out online to see if you think your family would enjoy an outing there.

Have a great trip!

[andie16]

We did surfing lessons a few years ago when we were on Coronado. Also took the ferry and went to The Midway, which was great. The town is cute - we just walked around and there happened to be a concert in the park, which we enjoyed too. Hung out at the hotel pool and beach. We wanted to just chill for a few days after having been at Disneyland for the few days before that.

[echoesofspring]

Been offline and just seeing these responses now, thank you so much! I didn't realize we needed to book tix to Midway ahead of time and I'm sure DH and DS will want to do it (I went to it years ago) so I'll get on that asap.