No matter where you live, there is usually one perfect evening in late May when the temperature is just warm enough not to need a sweater, the humidity is still low so your hair doesn't frizz and there's an inviting breeze that reminds you that summer is right around the corner. And you find yourself thinking, "I wish I could live somewhere that feels like this year round." That "somewhere" is San Diego. But even better, San Diego's fantastic year round weather is the backdrop to an inviting gay-friendly atmosphere complimented by an array of gay-friendly activities and nightlife.
Whether you are heading to San Diego for business or pleasure, there's plenty to see and do tucked away in California's second largest city, bordered by Mexico, the Pacific Ocean, the Anza-Borrego Desert and the Laguna Mountains. San Diego county's 4,200 square miles offer immense options for business and pleasure. The harbor and coast provide a gorgeous setting for the San Diego Naval Base - which provides such inviting sightseeing you just may want to enlist - or maybe just cruise the docks. San Diego's 70 miles of beaches are renowned for its welcoming surf culture which boasts the only gay surfers' club in the country.


Where to Stay: Gay Friendly Hotels in San Diego

Gay San Diego isn't hard to find. The main hotspot is Hillcrest: home to the famous San Diego Zoo seen in the opening credits of "Three's Company." You'll want to come and knock on the door of Balboa Park where everyone sunbathes on Saturdays and is the home of 15 museums, a plethora of performing arts venues, and more gay friendly cafes then you'll likely have time to visit.

North Park and the ironically named "Normal Heights" host a hopping gay and lesbian scene with plenty of activities (and people) to see and do. Hillsboro is THE chic spot for fun and games. From there, a free copy of "The San Diego Gay and Lesbian Times" is pretty much all you need to point out the local hot-spots, but of course we suggest you also take a look through the pages of PrideCityGuide.com for a list of our favorite gay friendly hotels, restaurants - gyms, bookstores - and of course a full list of great nightspots.

There are plenty of friendly owned and operated hotels no matter where you're going to be staying in the city. The bed and breakfast scene is limited, but that's more than made up for with their opulent luxury hotels. Hillsboro is the part of town to stay in to be close to the scene, but Coronado is the place to be for the ritzier treatment. San Diego's gay and lesbian population have done a lot to make San Diego one of the most gay-friendly cities in the country so even on business trips, when staying at a nationally branded hotel, one doesn't have to be too picky about where they're staying.

For a full list of our favorite gay friendly hotels, look below, or click on the hotels tab under the City Directory located on the left hand side of this page.


What to Do? Where to Go?

The most difficult decision to make when planning a trip to San Diego is determining what to do and see among the region's vast and diverse variety of offerings. From the theater to wild animals (and we don't mean the gay men) the city has something for everyone.

San Diego's coastline has a generally west by southwest orientation and the Continental Shelf extends many miles offshore, protecting us from the brunt of localized North Pacific storm surges and distant Southern Ocean swells. This and a temperate climate make San Diego's beaches safe and pleasant for the gay traveler virtually all year-round.
If you are feeling adventurous, the La Jolla cliffs offer excellent hang-gliding, which is a great way to get a bird's-eye view of others frolicking at the nude Black's Beach. It's a mixed-company beach, but friendly to the gay community. Hotel Del Coronado is a great piece of San Diego's gay history where Tony Curtis and our iconic blond Marilyn Monroe filmed some of the more memorable scenes in "Some Like It Hot".

Shopping enthusiasts can delight in San Diego's neighborhood shopping districts, major malls, museum gift shops, and antique stores and marvel at the unrivaled bargain shopping in the region's outlet centers and in neighboring Mexico. San Diego's popular shopping opportunities include Hip Urban Boutiques , where colorful and multi-cultural shopping experiences tempt savvy gay consumers.

Hillcrest also offers an exciting shopping experience. Strolling along its main thoroughfares, University Avenue and the tree-lined Fifth Avenue, you can soak up quaint neighborhood charm while browsing through urban-style boutiques and vintage shops stocked with books, clothes and records. Highlights include Mint for the fashion forward footwear and Buffalo Exchange for the hippest in retro clothes.

San Diego also boasts its own Little Italy. Located along India Street are patio cafes, restaurants, pubs, art galleries, and shops that are sure to please people watchers as well as serious "shopaholics."

With hundreds of antique dealers in six malls, the Ocean Beach Antique District, located along the 4800 block of Newport Avenue in Ocean Beach, offers the largest concentration of antique and collectible dealers in San Diego County. The district offers shoppers an array of unique, eclectic retail settings and features one-of-a-kind antiques, mid-century modern furniture, fine estate, vintage jewelry, and specialty memorabilia - perfect for that gay man looking to decorate the new home.
San Diego has a world-class internationally known performing arts community offering a broad mix of performances by small, progressive and experimental theatres, music and dance companies to internationally known regional theatres, San Diego Opera and the San Diego Symphony. If you're a gay man who appreciates the arts - San Diego is sure to please.

San Diego is the only city to boast two Tony Award(R)-winning theatres, the Globe Theatres in Balboa Park and the La Jolla Playhouse on the UCSD campus. The San Diego Performing Arts League produces "What's Playing On Stage in San Diego," a bimonthly guide to over 130 of the San Diego Performing Arts League's members.

Of course you can't visit San Diego without taking a trip south of the border - to Mexico. Take a short trolley or taxi ride to the border and you can literally walk to Tijuana with its cheap shopping and spunky gay nightlife (pun intended). After December, 31 2006 you'll have to show your passport to get across the border so come prepared.

In July, check out the annual Gay Pride festival with 5 different parades and in September, strap on your spurs and head to the San Diego Gay Rodeo. It's one of the largest events the International Gay Rodeo Association has to offer and features gay bull-riding (the riders are gay, not the bulls as far as we can tell), line dancing, and anything else you can do while wearing a Stetson.


Gay Friendly Dining in San Diego

For dinner, San Diego's gay scene has New York Style sushi bars, hamburger joints, Creole themed dining, great Italian, cute coffee-houses for lighter fare, and the city is right next to Mexico so you shouldn't even have to ask about the Mexican food. Whatever you're in the mood for there's a place to fit your mood and palette somewhere nearby. Gay San Diego is starting to rival Los Angeles' gay scene, and San Diego is a much smaller city so everything is easier to find.

The most popular gay-friendly dining hotspots are in Hillcrest, concentrated in "The Village" area bounded by Washington and University, between Fourth and Fifth Avenue. Enthusiastic supporters of the arts, Hillcrest's gay community has helped launch and patronize a number of excellent restaurants, cafes, art galleries, bookshops, boutiques and furniture stores. A Hillcrest landmark, the old Ken Cinema movie theater on Adams Avenue screens an eccentric offering of films, both classic and obscure

Gay Nightlife in San Diego

Gay San Diego has grown steadily for years and is well established in this port city. The San Diego scene features a diverse crowd of surfer types, biker boys, and Latinos mixed in with the usual jock, and club kid crowd. San Diego has an electric nightlife with dozens of bars ranging from packed dance clubs with bumping grooves and go-go boys, funky urban hip-hop lounges and traditional circuit and video bars. The bars are scattered in several key areas around Hillcrest: head west along the pacific coast highway to find The Hole, Moby Dicks and Six Degrees or to North Park (East Of Hilllcrest, off university Avenue) to find the Eagle, Pec's and Shooterz.
The scene's oldest gay bar, 'The Chee-Chee Club', is downtown and worth checking out as a point of interest. But uptown is the real heart and soul of the scene with over 50 gay-friendly clubs, bars, coffeehouses and restaurants.

Depending on how sociable you're feeling on the weekend, it's not hard to make friends and find your way to a party once the clubs close down. Weekdays can be just as exciting though, with gay venues hosting events all week long.

San Diego's night clubs don't get packed until late evening, but in most places, there is enough of a crowd in the bigger bars that you won't feel like a loser or a perv if you get there at 10. On Saturdays things start earlier - often with brunch. The dance clubs range from new-wave to retro and are appropriately flashy. Many of the small bars are great places to pre-game over a few games of pool. A lot of the clubs have weekly events, like wet-underwear contests, if you feel like watching beefcake strut. And there's no shortage of gay-friendly bistros and coffee shops for a more subdued night out.

View the Nightlife section under our City Directory on the left side of this page for a full list of our favorite gay bars in clubs in the great city of San Diego.

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