Top Outdoor Classes in San Diego

San Diego is, in some ways, a city organized around access to the ocean. The beach neighborhoods -- Pacific Beach, Ocean Beach, La Jolla, Coronado -- are all within a short drive of each other, and the water is the focal point of outdoor life here in a way that is different from most coastal cities. Surf lessons are available at multiple spots along the coast, and the instructors who run them tend to be people who have been in the water their whole lives and genuinely enjoy teaching others to surf.

Kayaking out of Mission Bay and La Jolla Cove deserves more attention than it gets. Mission Bay is calm and sheltered, which makes it a good learning environment; La Jolla Cove has sea caves and kelp forests that make a guided kayak tour genuinely memorable. Both are accessible to beginners and can be done in a half-day, which makes them good additions to a longer San Diego trip.

Rock climbing near the city is worth knowing about even if you have never climbed before. Several indoor gyms run outdoor introduction classes at spots in Mission Gorge and near the coast. The sandstone that defines the local geology makes for interesting climbing, and the view from certain routes in the area is hard to beat.