The 6 Best Things to Do in Pacific Beach, Ranked

You walk out over the surf with a row of white cottages standing on the water right beside you. Go to the end, turn around, and look back at the whole PB shoreline from an angle no street will give you. People fish off the sides most days, and none of it costs anything. Stay until the cottages drop to silhouette — that shape is the picture people carry around of this neighborhood, and at that hour you are standing inside it.

The lawn tips downhill and the whole city is laid out underneath it: Mission Bay, the ocean, downtown, the Coronado Bridge, all from one blanket. Bring dinner and bring a jacket, because it turns damp and cold the moment the sun goes. It is also one of the most dog-populated parks in the county, which is either the main attraction or useful information. Get up here before the light starts going, sit down on the grass, and let it do the work.

This is where PB keeps its longboarders. The waves come in slow, the lineup is full of people who have been surfing this same corner for generations, and the bluff lot above it is as much of the scene as the water: boards going in and out, showers running, everybody knowing everybody. Take a lesson before you paddle out here, and stay off the main takeoff. Otherwise park up top and watch — a well-ridden longboard is one of the better free shows in this city.

On Tuesday afternoons Bayard Street shuts between Garnet and Grand, and central PB gets a second center of gravity away from the sand. Growers, prepared-food stalls, and neighborhood vendors fill the closed block, and it is the one reliably non-beach thing this neighborhood does every week. Do a full lap before you buy anything, then eat standing up like everybody else. The lineup rotates, so what is there is what turned up that day. Walk west afterward and you land at the water in time for the light.

The entrance is hidden, and finding it is the first good thing that happens to you all night. Inside is a fully committed tiki room: rum drinks, shareable plates, and enough atmosphere to make an ordinary Wednesday feel like somebody's birthday. It is a proper night out rather than a stop on a crawl, so book ahead; walk-ins do badly here. Happy hour runs Tuesday through Thursday, 5 to 6. Order the rum drink the bartender wants you to order.