Discover what’s new in San Diego this summer

Summer is just around the corner and the city of San Diego is ready to showcase an array of new attractions, hotels and dining.

See what’s new for summer in SoCal.

Attractions

Belmont Park, San Diego’s historic beachfront amusement park, is gearing up to celebrate its 99th anniversary this summer. To celebrate, it is launching Shipwreck Cove, a new ride and play area in the park. The pirate-themed play area, opening this summer, will have a sunken ship featuring a slide, telescopes and other kid-friendly features. The Park’s new tower ride offers thrill seekers views of the ocean and Mission Beach boardwalk.

Events

Bay to Park Paseo, a visionary project in San Diego endorsed by World Design Capital 2024, started with a celebration walk on April 13. Envisioned by urban planner John Nolen, it enhances the connection between San Diego Bay and Balboa Park. The project features installations from 13 design teams along the 1.7-mile stretch of Park Boulevard. Bay to Park Paseo aims to generate more walking and enjoyment of public spaces. Free public guided tours start May 4, continuing the first and third Saturday through November, while self-guided tours are available anytime.

Taste of Little Italy, a renowned food event in San Diego, returns on June 18-19, promising two nights of gastronomy across 48 blocks of the neighborhood. With over 20 participating restaurants offering pizza, pasta, burgers, and sushi, foodies can explore a range of flavors. Guests will receive a Taste Passport upon arrival, allowing them to sample culinary delights as they roam, while live music adds to the vibrant atmosphere at Piazza della Famiglia and Piazza Basilone.

New Hotels & Renovations

In March, Hotel La Jolla, Curio Collection by Hilton, a city landmark in the picturesque seaside community of La Jolla Shores, finished a multi-million-dollar property renovation with 110 guestrooms and suites and 1,600 square feet of meetings and events space. The extensive revitalization showcases a modern beach-inspired aesthetic, as well as an all-new penthouse level restaurant concept, Sea & Sky.

Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa completed its property-wide, $26 million renovation in April as it celebrates its 20^th anniversary. A nod to its heritage with historic touches combined with modern design, it includes a new lobby and pool complex and upgraded meeting and group spaces.

Arts and Culture
 
The Museum of Photographic Arts at The San Diego Museum of Art (MOPA@SDMA) welcomed three new exhibitions this spring. Picture This: Recent Acquisitions, open now through August 4, showcases a variety of important themes and genres, including Portraiture, Abstraction/Manipulation, and Modernism. Storyteller: Work by Holly Roberts, open now through August 18, is a symbolic reflection of Roberts’ life and. The Artist Speaks: Cara Romero, opens April 27 – October 20, featuring the work of Cara Romero, an enrolled citizen of the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe..

Comic-Con Museum will open three upcoming exhibits featuring the famous Betty Boop, award-winning comic creator and Afrofuturist John Jennings, and a bi-national exhibition as a participating World Design Capital San Diego Tijuana 2024 community initiative. Scheduled to open to the public in May and June, these exhibits are all world premieres and original to the Museum. Exhibits include “Becoming Betty Boop,”, “Border Blitz: Artistas del Cómic de Tijuana,” featuring the art of Charles Glaubitz, Alejandra Yépiz Portillo, and Urbano Mata, the exhibit will highlight the diverse stories and perspectives of these border artists as told through their art.

Restaurants and Bars
 
This spring, Postino, the all-day restaurant and wine-café known for its cult-like following, is doubling down in San Diego, debuting two flagship locations, in Little Italy and Del Mar’s One Paseo urban village. The wine-cafés will serve an ever-changing selection of boutique wines and a menu of bruschetta, paninis, salads and charcuterie boards and shareables.

In June, Chef Drew Deckman, owner of Deckman’s en el Mogor in Baja’s Valle de Guadalupe, will debut his family’s very first US restaurant in San Diego’s North Park neighborhood called 31THIRTYONE. At 31THIRTYONE, Deckman’s brings the tastes of Southern California and northern Baja. The cause-based concept will fund regenerative farming projects—pledging 1% of monthly revenue to help farmers implement carbon farming projects.
 

Awards and Recognitions

Tara Monsod, the executive chef at the upscale Asian fusion restaurant Animae in downtown San Diego, has become the first San Diego chef in 34 years to be named a final nominee for a 2024 James Beard Award in the category of Best Chef: California.

Esquire, a popular men’s lifestyle magazine, named The Lafayette Hotel & Swim Club its 2024 New Hotel of the Year. The Lafayette leads Esquire’s top 41 new hotels in North America and Europe.

 
Transportation

San Diego International Airport (SAN) will welcome Breeze Airways this spring and will offer five new flight options in and out of San Diego. Starting in late April, Breeze Airways will offer nonstop flights to Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, followed by Jacksonville, Florida; Norfolk, Virginia; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

San Diego International Airport (SAN) has increased its nonstop service with a second daily flight to London Heathrow Airport on British Airways.

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