5 best places to watch the sunset in San Diego

San Diego faces the Pacific, so almost any west-facing beach works on a clear night. These five are spread from Coronado to Oceanside and were picked because they are open after dark, cost little or nothing to park at, and each gives you something different: cliffs, a pier, a mountaintop, a wide beach. Two famous spots did not make the list for practical reasons, explained at the end.

1. Sunset Cliffs Natural Park, Point Loma

The classic. The city's 68-acre park runs along Point Loma's western edge, with carved bluffs, arches and sea caves below you and nothing but open water to the west. Park on the street or in the small lots near Ladera Street, Luscomb Point or the Osprey area; the four city lots only close from 2 to 4 a.m. Come early on weekends, because every clear evening draws a crowd. Drawbacks: there are no restrooms, and the bluff edges are unfenced and crumbly, so stay well back from the drop. See Point Loma.

2. Coronado Central Beach

A long, flat, wide beach where you can sit on the sand instead of a cliff edge. Because the shore here faces southwest, it holds up well in winter, when the sun sets further south. Free street parking runs along Ocean Boulevard but fills up, so arrive before the evening rush or use the tips in Where to park for Coronado Beach. Drawback: getting on and off the island at rush hour adds time on either end.

3. Mt. Soledad National Veterans Memorial, La Jolla

The one high-up option. At 822 feet, the memorial looks over the Pacific, downtown, Coronado and, on a clear day, Mexico. It is open daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., admission is always free and parking is free. Drawback: the ocean is a few miles off, so you get a wide panorama rather than waves at your feet. It is also a memorial, so keep it respectful.

4. Torrey Pines Gliderport, La Jolla

Tall sandstone cliffs above Black's Beach, often with paragliders still in the air near sunset. The Gliderport is city-owned and is not part of the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve closure. Parking is a large free dirt lot (565 spaces) that the city plans to close overnight, 9 p.m. to 4 a.m., under new rules approved in 2026, so check the posted signs. Drawbacks: the lot is dusty, and the trails down to Black's Beach are steep and narrow, so don't start down at dusk.

5. Oceanside Pier

At 1,950 feet, this is the best sunset walk out over the water in the county, and it is open until 10 p.m. A 2024 fire damaged the end of the pier; about 90% is open, and the city hopes to start rebuilding the end in April 2027. City lots near the pier are cheap after dark: Lot 20 is $2 from 6 p.m., and Lots 21, 22 and 27 are $2 until they close at 8 p.m. from mid-September to mid-May. Drawback: you can't walk all the way to the tip right now. See Oceanside.