La Jolla or Mission Beach?

[Shelebeen]

Where would you stay with a 6 and 9 year old?

 

[oc_tony]

La Jolla is nicer, but it is pretty upscale. Mission Beach has more fun stuff, like a roller coaster right there. You are also close to Mission Bay and Sea World. It does depend exactly where you are staying in Mission Beach.

 

[CookingMama]

South Mission Beach is quieter. MB is a rental community now lots of kids from SDSU & Mesa living there. More sunbathing, biking, beers and margarita crowd.
I would try to go bayside south MB not on the alley. Then you can walk up the boardwalk to ride the wooden coaster and its a quick out to the 5 & the 8 for Sea World, going over to Coronado etc.. Cairncross realty, Jeff does rentals and I think Penny realty still rents weekly.
La Jolla is more shopping, martinis, fine dining. Rentals are more expensive & likely cottages or condos for familys. Depending on how far into LJ you are, you can hit traffic to get to major roads. We like the Cove Suites.

 

[Jessma9902]

We just returned from our visit to San Diego with our 9 and 7 year old. We stayed at Paradise Point which was about 3/4 miles from Mission Beach. We went up to the ocean for a bit to collect seashells- it was great. Paradise Point was beautiful and awesome- private beach areas, bike rentals, beautiful resort, fire pits on the beach to do s'mores with the kids at night.

I highly recommend it. Sea World is only a few miles down the road, also!

 

[LukenDC]

I'm a San Diego native who has spent a lot of time in both La Jolla and Mission Beach. My recommendation would be La Jolla.

La Jolla is upscale, but it still has a lot of things for the family to enjoy. The La Jolla Cove is one of the most beautiful places on earth and families enjoy the beaches. It is a great place to snorkel. UCSD has a great aquarium that is a short drive or bus ride away in the bluffs above La Jolla. La Jolla also offers a range of dining and shopping options. I have stayed at the Grande Colonial and The Empress and liked both of them. The Grande Colonial is having a special sale through June and is truly a great place. Send me a PM if you want details.

Mission Beach attracts a young and, at times, rough beach crowd. Drinking and drug use are not uncommon. The community has had an ongoing battle with cars cruising up and down Mission Beach Blvd. There has also been a problem with gang activity near the old Belmont Park rollercoaster. Mission Beach is worth some exploration and I love the rollercoaster, but I would not want to stay there.

 

[medievaldave]

hmm been going to mission beach and the coaster for years and never seen any gang crap. makes me a little nervous now and ill be there in 2 days. lol