Years ago, when I lived cities other than Coronado (New York City, Sacramento, London, Holland), I always looked forward to visiting my little hometown.  Now that I've returned, I realize that when I visited Coronado, the town had different meaning to me - I was living nowhere near the Pacific Ocean, my house was at least 2 hours from a beach and the year-round temperature did not hover around 70 degrees.  

Each time I returned to Coronado, I looked forward to seeing my little island through the airplane window. I would intentionally pick the left side of the plane (seats ABC) so that as we glided over Balboa Park and floated alongside downtown San Diego, I could catch glimpses of Coronado. If it was daytime, I could see the sun reflecting off the water, helping accentuate the...

During the summer, the Coronado beach will be filled with people.  The sun is blazing, the water is glistening and the sand steaming.  Sometimes the beach can be overwhelming during the day because of the extreme warms during those summer months, so if you are one of those people then maybe the beach at night is in the cards for you.

One of the greatest things about the Coronado beach is the circle of fire pits.  The bonfire pits are located at the north end of the island, just before Dog Beach.  If you wanted, you could plan for an entire day at the beach starting with volleyball (might have to set up your own net if you want to stay close to the pits) then a little dip in the ocean, followed by a rinse at the toilets/showers and then get cozy and cuddle up next to...

There are all sorts of interesting things to look at while on Coronado Beach.  Some are out in the ocean, others are flying overhead.  But in this case, these “interesting” things happen to be on the beach itself.  They come from the ocean and during certain times of the year are laying in abundance along the shore.  What am I talking about? Kelp.

Never in my life have I seen kelp quite like that of Coronado’s beach.  The long, skinny tentacle-like arm can reach up to ten feet long.  At one end, the single strand develops into tons of little strands that resemble fingers or cilia, like we once discovered in a middle school science experiment. Those little “hairs” latch themselves onto a rock or some sort of anchor that keeps...