Best Way To Spend A Day In La Jolla, CA.

If you only had one day to spend in La Jolla California, how would you spend it? I know there are probably many opinions, but here is how we recently spent a day enjoying the beach and other fun things in La Jolla, CA.

First, start off with booking a kayak tour of the La Jolla Ecological Reserve, an MPA (Marine Protected Area).

You'll find some of the most pristine waters along the California Coast just offshore of La Jolla.

Tour guides such as Everyday California (below) offer kayak tours of the sea caves as well as whale watching kayak tours during the migration season.

We're going to skip the magnificent photos of humpback whales and sea lions, (mainly because we didn't take our camera along on the kayak tour), but mostly because we want to skip to the part about the tacos.

After you burn a few calories by kayaking around La Jolla Cove or walking along the beach, you should definitely try and replace a few of them by visiting what just might be La Jolla's best Mexican food restaurant. Galaxy Taco, which was started as part of chef Trey Foshee's passion project to create delicious Mexican food using only fresh ingredients, is located right across from Everyday California tours. There are lots and lots of tacos to be found in Southern California, yet locals know that Galaxy Taco stands out among the crowd for consistently great food. Our favorite taco is their "Tacolandia", which is made with marinated, braised and seared pork shoulder, jalapeno slaw and chicharrones or fried pork skin. Nom! Nom!

After you enjoy some delicious Mexican food and / or beverages, you can walk some of it off by taking a stroll along the beach. (Tip: Take along a second set of clothes for after your kayak tour because you most likely will get wet.) If you get cold easily, consider renting a wetsuit for your kayak tour during the winter months.

The photo of the beach in La Jolla below was taken in November and the beach was beautiful and uncrowded. Although the cove is fairly protected, lifeguards must still be on guard for rogue waves and undertows which can happen more frequently during the winter months.

Below: A San Diego Fire Rescue Lifeguard

After your beach walk you might want to visit one of the most offbeat places in La Jolla, CA. Sunny Jim Cave is a popular local attraction that can be accessed from the Cave Store Gift Shop in La Jolla. In the 1900's a local resident hired Chinese laborers to dig a tunnel from his home down to a nearby sea cave. After it was dug it was used by smugglers and rum runners during Prohibition among other things. For an admission fee of somewhere around $6.00 you can walk down the steep stairs into a secluded sea cave. The walls of the cave are colored with minerals and ancient rock stratas.

After your visit to Sunny Jim Cave you might want to take in a sunset walk along the shore, followed by dinner at one of the many fine restaurants in La Jolla..

That's how we spent our day in La Jolla. We hope that you can visit sometime and have your own adventure.

(Below: A surfer grabs one last wave as the sun sets on La Jolla California.)