5 Days in San Diego with Kids

As school came to a close for another year, my family and I headed off to California at the end of June. California is packed with family-friendly attractions and has enough activities to fill up your entire summer.

Having been to Los Angeles and San Francisco in previous years, and looking to escape the scorching summer heat, we decided on visiting San Diego this time.

Also, while we were at it, we decided to hit a few national parks close by: Sequoia, Kings Canyon, and Yosemite. Check out my article on how we planned the national parks portion of the trip if you’d like to learn more about those travels.

Now, here’s how we planned our family trip to San Diego…

How to Get There

The easiest way to get to San Diego from Canada is to fly. Between Air Canada, Porter Airlines, and WestJet, you can find non-stop flights to San Diego from Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, and Vancouver, with round-trip economy flights typically ranging from $320 (all figures in CAD) to $1,000.

Doing a quick search for the coming year, I found that flights can be redeemed for as low as 5,600 Aeroplan points for a one-way economy fare from Vancouver or 11,600 Aeroplan points from Toronto or Montreal. This was pleasant to see as both rates are slightly lower than expected based on the routes’ respective distance bands according to Aeroplan’s Flight Reward Chart.

Of course, you can also redeem your WestJet points earned through the WestJet RBC® World Elite Mastercardǂ for a WestJet flight, or you could offset the cost of your flights using a credit card that lets you redeem fixed-value points against travel expenses, such as Scene+ points from the Scotiabank Passport® Visa Infinite* Card, TD Rewards points from the TD First Class Travel® Visa Infinite* Card, or CIBC Aventura points from the CIBC Aventura® Visa Infinite* Card.

Because we were visiting a few national parks prior to heading to San Diego, we booked our flights from Toronto into Los Angeles on Air Canada for 14,000 Aeroplan points and $107.20 in taxes and fees each, and then returned to Toronto from San Diego on Air Canada for 12,400 Aeroplan points and $76.30 in taxes and fees each.

At the time, this multi-city trip was pricing out at $600 per person (including taxes and fees), so with this redemption, we were getting a value of 1.58 cents per point for our Aeroplan points, which is below Prince of Travel’s current valuation. However, the goal for my family isn’t always about maximizing the value so much as it’s about offsetting our overall travel expenses, so I was happy with this redemption.

Where We Stayed

We split our stay between the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina, which is located right by San Diego Bay, and The US GRANT, a Luxury Collection Hotel located in the Gaslamp quarter of the city. Both hotels are within walking distance of shopping and dining options as well as attractions in the downtown area, like the USS Midway.

Location-wise, the hotels are not that far from each other, so if you were choosing between them, the cost and the amenities that you’re after will most likely dictate which you choose.

Here’s a quick comparison of the two hotels:

Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina

This hotel is great for Marriott Bonvoy Elite member recognition. Although our Nightly Upgrade Award didn’t get confirmed prior to our arrival, the staff recognized my husband’s Titanium status at check-in and upgraded him to a One-Bedroom Suite from our standard Two Queen Beds with City View Guest Room.

The hotel also has an M Club lounge, which Marriott Bonvoy Platinum members and above have access to. This is a great spot for free breakfast for the whole family, and some snacks and hors d’oeuvres later in the day.

If you don’t have Marriott Bonvoy Elite status, there’s also a Starbucks, a grab-and-go marketplace, and a restaurant in the hotel.

Additionally, the hotel has many family-friendly amenities, like a large outdoor swimming pool with plenty of lounge chairs, several fire pits, and many seating areas where guests travelling with family or friends can chill and enjoy each other’s company.

We spent a large part of one of our days just chilling by the poolside, which was nice.

Cash rates at the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina range from $216–600+ (USD) for a Two Queen Beds with City View Guest Room, whereas point redemptions range from 42,000–73,000 Marriott Bonvoy points (plus a few select dates are even cheaper with a PointSavers rate!).

The US GRANT, a Luxury Collection Hotel

This hotel unfortunately doesn’t have many amenities to offer; however, if you have a larger family and are looking for extra space, they seem to be quite generous with their Nightly Upgrade Award offerings.

Our three upgrade award requests (for three nights) cleared for their Signature Suite with two king beds! Not many urban hotels offer rooms with two king beds, let alone a suite, so this was a treat for our family of five.

Of course, there’s always a chance that Nightly Upgrade Awards won’t be confirmed, so you should take that into consideration as well.

A breakfast credit of up to $21 (USD) per person for up to two guests can be chosen as a welcome amenity for Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite members and higher.

Hotel cash rates range from $269–800+ (USD) for their standard Superior Guest Room with Two Queen Beds; whereas point redemptions range from 40,000–76,000 Marriott Bonvoy points.

For both stays, I used my Marriott Bonvoy® American Express® Card to pay for our hotel expenses, which earns 5x Bonvoy points per Canadian dollar of spend (which works out better than the 3–6x Bonvoy points per US dollar of spend that you get with the US Bonvoy credit cards, even after factoring in the current exchange rate).

5 Days in San Diego with Kids

To be honest, we could have easily stretched our five-night stay in San Diego to a week or even longer. There’s a lot to do and see within the San Diego core, and even more if you’re willing to venture an hour’s drive out or so.

Here’s an example of how you can spend five days in San Diego:

Day 1

Spend the first day at the harbourfront. Seaport Village is a great place to stroll, grab a bite, and pick up souvenirs. The USS Midway is docked here and is definitely an attraction not to be missed.

None of our family knew much about the US Navy when we began our tour, but despite that, we had a fabulous time exploring the aircraft carrier, learning what life was like as a soldier living onboard, reading about some battles fought, and stepping into some pretty cool aircraft.

Many veterans volunteer their time here, and the enthusiasm and stories they shared added a personal touch to the whole experience.

Day 2

Balboa Park is a 1,200-acre park of museums, gardens, attractions, and the San Diego Zoo. You could easily spend a few days here or just a few hours strolling around appreciating the Spanish architecture.

We visited a few attractions within the park: The Japanese Friendship Garden and Museum, which is a serene and beautifully landscaped area; the Fleet Science Center, a smaller but very interactive space for kids to learn and explore; and the San Diego Natural History Museum, which has some awesome films and a dinosaur exhibit that was well liked by my kids.

If you can time your visit right, admission to the Natural History Museum is free during your birthday month, and on every third Friday of the month, they stay open until 10pm, with admission discounted to 50% off after 5pm.

Also, if you plan on visiting multiple museums, consider purchasing the Balboa Park Explorer Pass which will save you some money on admission costs.

Although the scheduling didn’t work out for us, if your kids enjoy art, you can also check out the Village Arts and Education Foundation while you’re there; on Saturdays afternoons, they set up a free drop-in art station for kids.

Day 3

San Diego Zoo and Safari Park are world-renowned animal facilities that are perfect for the animal lover in your family. They also feature some animals that are difficult to find at other zoos, like the giant panda and the kiwi bird. If you plan to do both the zoo and the safari park, it’s probably best to spread your visit over two days, unless your kids are older, as it’s a lot to cover in a single day.

The Safari Park is similar to any other zoo if you plan to just walk around the park; however, the option to add a safari tour in an overland vehicle makes it unique, as this will bring you closer to the animals.

While there, we opted for a big cats behind-the-scenes tour, and although I think our visit was all the more interesting since we were able to see the lions’ sleeping quarters, and the experience was more informative with the tour, it didn’t come cheap, so this additional cost is something to consider when you’re planning.

Day 4

Legoland is a great amusement park for younger kids, and probably best suited for those aged 3–10, as my thirteen-year-old found the rides to be too tame (though he still enjoyed himself).

The one thing my whole family did love about the park was that the lineups for rides were so short! At most, we waited 5–15 minutes for a ride, compared to the 45–60 minute wait you may experience at Disneyland.

If you choose to visit Legoland, do use Google to look for promotions and discount codes, as there are often kids-go-free or buy-one-get-one deals floating around. Oh, and do try their apple fries!

Day 5

To end off your trip, consider having a beach day. Coronado Beach is on a small island just off the coast, only a 15-minute drive from downtown San Diego, and its white sand beach ranks as one of America’s best.

Do check the water conditions before going though, as sometimes they have water contact closures, which means you can’t go in the water due to high bacteria levels. This usually happens following large rainfalls or due to runoff from Tijuana’s faulty sewage system across the border in Mexico.

That said, regardless of whether you can swim or not during your visit, it’s still a great place to enjoy a sunset off the beach.

La Jolla is another great beach area around a 25- to 30-minute drive from downtown San Diego, offering great snorkelling, diving, and other water sport options. Seals can also be seen up close on the beach, and although we didn’t have time this trip, taking a kayaking and snorkelling tour to see the leopard sharks which abound in the area in late summer is on our to-do list for our next visit.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for a trip that has a bit of beach, an amusement park, and some educational opportunities in a location with awesome weather year-round, then add San Diego to your list.

If you’re looking to extend your trip, consider also visiting neighbouring areas like Carlsbad, Anaheim, or Los Angeles as well.