North of Ocean Beach, you come to Mission Bay and San Diego's most popular tourist attraction. Exhibits and events at Sea World (mid June-Aug daily 9am-dusk; rest of year 10am-dusk; $41.95, kids $31.95, parking $7; ) range from "performances" by killer whales and dolphins to the eerie sight of the heads of hundreds of moray eels protruding from the hollow rocks of the "Forbidden Reef."

Sharks circle menacingly in the Shark House; the Penguin Exhibit is a mock Antarctica; the Wild Arctic exhibit simulates the North Pole with polar bears and walruses; and the Manatee Rescue provides a close-up glimpse of the white, bulbous freshwater herbivores.

Anyone of a nervous disposition, or with a physique inappropriate for bathing apparel, might find nearby Mission Beach - the peninsula that separates Mission Bay from the Pacific Ocean - and its seamless northern extension, Pacific Beach , an intimidating spot, with scads of scantily clad torsos and surfboard-clutching hunks.

Despite first impressions, though, the city authorities are endeavoring to limit its anarchic hedonism - more families are using the area, but little impact has been made on the beach's freewheeling character.

 

A more pretentious air prevails in La Jolla (always "la-hoya"), an elegant beach community just to the north that mystery writer Raymond Chandler once described as "a nice place - for old people and their parents." Stroll its immaculate, gallery-filled streets, fuel up on some California cuisine at one of the many sidewalk cafés or visit the La Jolla site of the Museum of Contemporary Art , 700 Prospect St (Tues & Thurs-Sat 10am-5pm, Wed 10am-8pm, Sun noon-5pm; $4; ), which has a huge - and regularly changing - stock of paintings and sculptures from 1955 onwards, with California pop and minimalism some of the highlights.

On the seaward side of the museum lies the small, exquisitely tasteful Ellen Scripps Browning Park, named after the philanthropist whose Irving Gill-designed home now houses the museum. Where the park meets the coast is the popular La Jolla Cove , with clear waters perfect for snorkeling, as long as you can secure a parking space.

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