A guide to the watery side of San Diego - San Diego Bay

Sunset, May, 1995 by Elaine Ellen Davis

Events such as the America's Cup remind us how easy it is to enjoy the sights on San Diego Bay

In 1542, a Portuguese explorer named Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo went looking for China. Instead, he discovered San Diego and literally put the city on the map.

Today, more than 450 years later, the 1995 America's Cup race is bringing another wave of explorers to California's first port city. Only this time, it's no accident.

Visitors cheering on cup entries from Australia, France, Japan, New Zealand, and Spain are discovering that San Diego is not only the perfect setting for yachting's most prestigious race - which takes place this month - but also a great place for fresh seafood, shopping, and strolls along the bay.

San Diego Bay is practically ringed by parks and bike paths, from Shelter Island in Point Loma to Seaport Village downtown. A bridge, a pedestrian ferry, and a water taxi link downtown with Coronado across the bay, and Harbor Drive links downtown with Point Loma. Public boat ramps are plentiful, as is parking. All of which makes a day exploring San Diego Bay a largely hassle-free experience.

DOWNTOWN WATERFRONT

Begin at the San Diego Convention Center, with its signature rooftop that incorporates canvas sails into a contemporary nautical design. There you will see Dennis Conner's America's Cup Base Camp (619/235-5300), home to the $3-million Stars & Stripes. Visit Conner's gallery to view his collection of America's Cup models. Next door is Chart House at the Historic Rowing Club (233-7391), a restaurant popular with yachtsmen and women staying at the nearby San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina (230-8955).

From here, walk north along the boardwalk to Seaport Village (235-4013), a 14-acre outdoor mall with more than 60 shops and restaurants. Meandering footpaths weave through the mall, in some places around small manmade ponds and lakes. The most popular attraction is the turn-of-the-century Broadway Flying Horses Carousel, which attracts 400,000 riders a year.

Seaport Village's Harbor House (232-1141) and San Diego Pier Cafe (239-3968), which rests on pilings over the bay, both serve fresh seafood and are good spots to watch the sun set. For nautical gifts, try Captain's Cove (234-5050); for nautical togs, try Dockside Apparel (696-7380). And if you didn't come to the water's edge to shop, wander through Embarcadero Marina Park, which is adjacent to the village and overlooks the boating activity on the bustling bay.

From Seaport Village you can hop a water taxi (235-8294; $5 per person each way) to Coronado. It departs at noon, 2, 4, and 6 from Fish Harbor Pier for Ferry Landing Marketplace, Le Meridien Resort, and Glorietta Bay Marina. On-call service is also available to Shelter Island and Harbor Island.

Adjacent to Seaport Village is Tuna Harbor, home of the American Tunaboat Association. A handful of working tuna boats anchors here, but the onetime huge fleet has dwindled, and most boats now have foreign registry. Busier is the Fish Market Restaurant (619/232-3474) at the harbor. It's a popular spot with San Diegans, thanks to its oyster bar, sushi bar, two dining rooms overlooking the bay, and fresh-fish market.

Continuing north, you'll come to Broadway Pier, usually identified by the Navy ships that are often in port and open for tours on weekends. From here, you can catch the San Diego-Coronado Ferry (234-4111; $2 each way, 50 cents extra for bikes) to Coronado's Ferry Landing Market-place. Ferries depart every hour from 9 to 9 (till 10 weekends) and can accommodate bicycles when space is available. Cycling is a good way to go because Coronado has almost 15 miles of dedicated bike paths along its waterfront.

About 1/2 mile farther north is the San Diego Maritime Museum (234-9153), with its four-boat fleet. The 1863 Star of India, the museum's three-masted centerpiece, is the oldest active iron-hulled ship afloat. The Berkeley, an 1898 ferryboat, has exhibits and a good gift shop. In honor of the race, the current exhibition, Age of Russia, features a dry-docked America's Cup yacht formerly owned by the 1992 Russian team.

POINT LOMA AREA

Harbor Island's proximity to the airport accounts for the large number of waterfront hotels and restaurants here. Despite all the development, it remains a beautiful place to park your car, walk past picturesque marinas, and look across the bay for an unobstructed view of the city's skyline. For a closer look, get out on the water. Harbor Island Sailboats (291-9568) rents everything from 19- to 51-footers - newcomers are required to take a quiz and have their docking prowess checked out, but it's smooth sailing thereafter.

After leaving Harbor land, head west on Harbor Drive. To your left you'll see signs heralding the berth of Americas (4960 N. Harbor; 221-2100), the first all-woman entry in the America's Cup. The team has set up a cup boutique Where visitors can purchase team gear and memorabilia. No doubt team members carbo-load on gourmet wood-fired pizza at Pizza Nova (5120 N. Harbor: 226-0268) a few doors away. Directly adjacent is John Tarantino's (5150 N. Harbor; 224-3555), a family-owned Italian and seafood restaurant open for lunch and dinner (though the owner has been serving a private breakfast daily to the women's team since last June).