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San Diego’s best people-watching is on the Ocean Front Walk, a boardwalk that connects the two beaches. It’s crowded with joggers, in-line skaters and cyclists anytime of the year. On warm summer weekends, oiled bodies, packed like sardines, cover the beach from end to end. A block off the beach, Mission Blvd (the main north–south road), is lined with surf, smoke and swimwear shops. At peak times it can get so crowded that the police simply close it down, and parking around noon is just not gonna happen.

Instead, consider biking or skating. Cheap Rentals ( 858-488-9070, 800-941-7761; 3689 Mission Blvd) rents bikes and skates ($5/15 per hour/day), plus surfboards ($15 per day) and wetsuits ($10 per day); it also accepts advance reservations, crucial if you sleep late. See opposite for info about surfing the beaches.

BELMONT PARK

This old-style family amusement park ( 858-228-9283; www.belmontpark.com; park admission free, ride $1-6, unlimited rides adult/child $23/16; from 11am; ) in the middle of Mission Beach has been here since 1925. When it was threatened with demolition in the mid-1990s, community action saved the large indoor pool, known as the Plunge, and the Giant Dipper ( 858-488-1549), a classic wooden roller coaster that’ll shake the teeth right outta your mouth, plus bumper cars, a tilt-a-whirl, carousel and other classics. More modern attractions include Flowrider, a wave machine for simulated surfing.

MISSION BAY

In the 18th century, the mouth of the San Diego River formed a shallow bay when the river flowed and a marshy swamp when it didn’t – the Spanish called it False Bay. After WWII an extraordinary combination of civic vision and coastal engineering turned the swamp into a 7-sq-mile playground, with 27 miles of shoreline and 90 acres of public parks on islands, coves and peninsulas. A quarter of that land has been leased to hotels, boatyards and other businesses.

Kite flying is popular in Mission Bay Park, beach volleyball is big on Fiesta Island, and there’s delightful cycling and in-line skating on the miles of smooth bike paths. Sailing, windsurfing and kayaking dominate the waters in northwest Mission Bay, while water-skiers zip around Fiesta Island. For equipment rentals, see opposite.

For a lovely time without adrenaline overload, board the Bahia Belle ( 858-539-7779; 998 West Mission Bay Dr; adult/child $6/3), a floating bar disguised as a stern-wheeler paddleboat. It cruises between two resort hotels, the Catamaran and the Bahia, on Friday and Saturday evenings year-round, Wednesday to Saturday in June, and daily in July and August. Cruises start at 6:30pm; call for exact departure times.

SEAWORLD

One of San Diego’s most popular attractions, SeaWorld (Map; 800-257-4268, 619-226-3901; www.seaworld.com/seaworld/ca; 500 SeaWorld Dr; adult/child 3-9yr $57/47; 9am-11pm Jul–mid-Aug, shorter hr rest of year; ) opened here in 1964. Shamu, the park’s killer whale, has become an unofficial symbol of the city. It’s easy to spend a day here, shuttling among shows, rides and exhibits – pick up a map at the entry and plan your day around the scheduled events.

SeaWorld’s highlights are live shows featuring trained dolphins, seals, sea lions and killer whales. Believe is the most visually spectacular, a 30-minute show in which the three star performers – Shamu, Baby Shamu and Namu – glide, leap, dive and flip through the water while interacting with each other, their trainers and the audience. Avoid marked ‘soak zones’ near the tanks or you will get wet (though of course that may be just what you want). Some of the showmanship may be a bit, well, awww, but the creatures inspire pure awe – we’ll admit we got a little choked up when 12-year-old Caleb from Indiana got to hold Shamu’s flipper.

There are numerous other installations where you can see and learn about underwater creatures, as well as petting pools where you can touch the slippery surface of a dolphin or manta ray. In Penguin Encounter, several