San Diego = outdoor living. From hiking to surfing to beach hopping, you’ll best experience this city outside. It seems like every restaurant has an outdoor section, and even the malls are mostly outdoors. This works well the majority of time but not so much on the occasional rainy day. I’ve struggled quite a bit trying to come up with things to do in San Diego when it’s raining, so I figured I’d share my best ideas and hopefully save you some time brainstorming 🙂
Experience the indoor sections of breweries: I usually bypass the indoor sections of breweries and head straight outside for the sunshine (can you blame me??). However, the brewery game in San Diego is strong, and their indoor sections are impressive and worth spending time in. If you come to SD and don’t drink any craft beers, you’re doing it wrong. Check out Ballast Point in Miramar which is nautically designed to look like you’re underwater below a ship. Or visit Culture in Ocean Beach or Solana Beach which always has neat local art on display. Green Flash is another favorite (we always take our guests). The options are really endless and can get you through many hours of rain–just make sure to Uber or have a designated driver!
See a movie at a luxury theatre: Rainy days are perfect movie-watching days, and they’re a great excuse to spoil yourself and go to a luxury theatre. Click the link to see what and why I recommend.
Cheer on the San Diego Gulls: The Padres play outdoors so that won’t work, but bad weather won’t have any effect on your night at the Gulls game. It’s B-league hockey at its finest, with $2 beers every Friday and lots of fist fights.
Museum hop in Balboa Park: Bring an umbrella because there are some uncovered areas, but you won’t have to do much walking in the rain since most paths are covered. Stay dry while experiencing as many museums as you can handle–there are a ton of options! Click here to decide which one(s) you want to visit.
Spa day twist–float in a sensory deprivation tank: The weather might keep you indoors, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be able to try something new. While escaping the rain, why not escape everything… like all your senses. I tried this a few months ago at Flot SD after reading about it in San Diego Magazine. It’s a relatively new fad going around that sounded so interesting I had to check it out for myself. It’s basically really salty water that causes you to float in a dark, quiet tank. You can’t hear anything or see anything, and floating in zero-gravity conditions is such a strange sensation. During my float, the way time passed was SO WEIRD! I thought it could have been hours that went by or just 30 seconds. Insider tip: use the earplugs they have available. I got water in my ears that lasted a few weeks after and probably impacted my thoughts on the experience as a whole. However, I do recommend trying this at least once… I haven’t rushed back a second time yet, but it was also such a unique experience that I find myself thinking about it again and again. Bonus: Flot SD is in a really cute neighborhood 🙂
What do you like to do in San Diego when the weather isn’t cooperating?