The Best Sunset-spots in Point Loma

Also worth your time in Point Loma

These didn't make our citywide sunset-spots ranking, but they're real local options worth knowing about when you're already in Point Loma.

• Sunset Cliffs Natural Park

  Point Loma

  Order: Park north of Ladera Street and walk the bluff trail

  The most reliable sunset in the city, and free. Stay back from the crumbling bluff edge — the erosion is active.

• Cabrillo National Monument

  Point Loma

  Order: The overlook by the old lighthouse

  Highest vantage point on the peninsula, with harbor, downtown, and ocean in one frame. Check the gate closing time before you plan a sunset visit.

sunset-spots in Point Loma, specifically

Point Loma is the western edge of the city, which makes it the default sunset peninsula: unobstructed open-ocean horizon, sandstone bluffs that catch the last light, and enough elevation at the southern tip to see both the ocean and the bay at once. Nowhere else in San Diego stacks those three things together.

Which one to pick

Sunset Cliffs is the pick nine nights out of ten — it's free, it's open past dark, and the light on the sandstone is the specific thing people come for. Cabrillo is the more dramatic elevated view, but it's a paid entry and the gates close before the sun does for much of the year, so it only works as an late-afternoon visit rather than an actual sunset spot.

Before you go

Cabrillo National Monument closes at 5pm, which rules it out for sunset during most of the calendar. Check the gate time before committing, and default to Sunset Cliffs from fall through spring.