Where can you have a beach bonfire in San Diego?
In a city fire ring, first-come first-served, free. On the ocean beaches that means La Jolla Shores, Mission Beach by Belmont Park and Ocean Beach in summer — but Mission Bay has far more rings and keeps them year-round.
- Cost
- Free
- Biggest concentration
- Fiesta Island, Mission Bay
- Allowed fuel
- Charcoal, clean wood or paper
- No fires
- Midnight to 5 a.m.
First-come, first-served, no reservations
About 40 rings, year-round
Nothing else
The short version
- Fire rings are free and first-come, first-served — there is no booking system, so on a summer Saturday you arrive early or you don't get one.
- Ocean-beach rings are seasonal: La Jolla Shores, Mission Beach at Belmont Park and Ocean Beach. Mission Bay's rings run year-round.
- Fiesta Island has by far the most rings of any single location — around 40.
- Only charcoal, clean wood or paper may be burned, and no fires between midnight and 5 a.m.
San Diego is one of the few big California beach cities that still maintains public fire rings, and they cost nothing to use. There is no reservation system — you get one by standing next to it. On a July Saturday the ocean-beach rings are claimed by early afternoon.
The ocean beaches
Rings on the surf beaches are seasonal, generally out for summer through Labor Day: La Jolla Shores (about 7), Mission Beach by Belmont Park (about 5) and Ocean Beach (about 7). South Mission Beach used to have eleven; they were removed in 2026 after neighbourhood complaints about smoke, with some relocated to Fiesta Island and Bonita Cove.
Mission Bay, where the actual capacity is
If the fire is the point rather than the surf, go to the bay. Mission Bay Park's rings run year-round and there are many more of them. The water is calm and shallow, which also makes these the better choice with small children.
Where the rings are, and how many
Counts from the City's ring location list and the August 2026 Times of San Diego survey. Rings get moved and removed between seasons — treat this as the shape of the thing, not an inventory.
SOURCES
Everything above traces back to one of these. Follow them — if one has changed and we haven't, that's our mistake, not yours.
City of San Diego Parks & Recreation · Checked September 8, 2026
The official ring-by-ring location list, the fuel rules and the midnight-to-5 a.m. prohibition.
Times of San Diego · August 29, 2026
The 2026 removals at South Mission Beach and the current per-location counts, which are more recent than the city's published PDF.
City of San Diego Lifeguard Services · Checked September 8, 2026
Fire hours, allowed fuel, extinguishing requirements, and the alcohol and glass bans that still apply.