Mission Bay and Pacific Beach Hotels and resorts are also available in a variety of price ranges, but book early because this is San Diego's most popular vacation area.
 In addition to a Visitor's Information Center with an RV pump-out station, Mission Bay Park has children's play areas, picnic shelters, barbecues, fire rings, basketball courts, sand volleyball courts and a horseshoe court. There are bicycle and walking paths throughout the park all free to the public.
Swimming areas are staffed with lifeguards during summer months and rest rooms and showers are also available.
 Fiesta Island in Mission Bay Park — shown in the 360° panorama to the left — is a nesting place for many birds including the house finch, horned lark, western meadowlark and mourning dove. The wildlife preserves at Mission Bay are home to a number of endangered species including the Least Tern, light-footed clapper rail and Belding's savannah sparrow. Lots of other kinds of birds can be seen throughout the year at Mission Bay park including the great blue heron, many species of duck, loons, osprey and egrets.
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Mission Beach, Mission Bay and other popular locations
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SeaWorld San Diego
 Another place at Mission Bay to enjoy wildlife is the famous SeaWorld San Diego theme park. Entertainment and education are the order of the day as killer whale, Shamu, and friends provide daily shows.
Take our SeaWorld San Diego Tour which includes round-trip transportation from your hotel, park admission and shows.
Several SeaWorld San Diego animal shows are provided, the most famous of which is the Shamu Adventure. During The Shamu Adventure, killer whales perform spectacular behaviors with their trainers.
 SeaWorld San Diego’s killer whale family added a new member in 2003 with the birth of Grandbaby Shamu. The birth marked the world’s second successful artificial insemination of a marine mammal. The first birth as a result of artificial insemination happened in September 2001 with the birth of Baby Shamu.
There's also Dolphin Discovery at Sea World San Diego which showcases bottlenose dolphins and pilot whales. In the photo at right high-flying dolphins leap over their trainers at the Dolphin Discovery show. Guests seated in the first 10 rows of Dolphin Stadium have a very good chance that they may get wet — not necessarily a bad thing on a hot summer day.
 Fools with Tools is a comedic presentation utilizing sea lions in their own home repair show where Clyde the sea lion shows off and gets the best of his trainer. Sea Lion and Otter Stadium has been transformed into a television studio where California sea lions, otters and walruses compete for attention and the spotlight.
Other shows broaden the focus beyond animals with day and night time spectacular entertainment.
“Amphibian” creatures from the popular, daytime show Cirque de la Mer come out at night, for the Mistique de la Mer show — mystifying guests with stilt walking, hand balancing, aerial performances and more. Show starts Memorial Day weekend and continues through Labor Day.
 R.L. Stine's Haunted Lighthouse, a 4-D movie experience that opened at SeaWorld San Diego in May 2003, stars actors Michael McKean, Lea Thompson and Christopher Lloyd. The 22-minute movie, which is based on the original story by world-famous author R.L. Stine, tells the story of two children who meet a sailor and nearly meet their end in a haunted lighthouse.
There are a number of animal attractions at SeaWorld San Diego, of course. Shark Encounter is a 57 foot walk-through tube where you can practically reach out and touch the hundreds of sand tiger, bonnethead, blacktip and whitetip sharks.
Beluga whales are just one of the many intriguing animals at Wild Arctic, an attraction that gives guests a North Pole experience to be remembered.
Kaboodle, a Pacific walrus born at SeaWorld last May, enjoys her new home, on public display with her mom, Kit, at the park's Wild Arctic attraction. Kaboodle weighed approximately 110 pounds at birth. Her birth marked the first walrus birth at SeaWorld San Diego in 10 years and the second successful walrus birth in the park's 40-year history.
 Additional attractions, including the Forbidden Reef, Tide Pools, Seal and Sealion Feeder Pool and bottlenose dolphins at Rockey Point Preserve, allow you to actually touch and or feed a number of sea creatures.
There are several fun and exciting rides at SeaWorld San Diego including Shipwreck Rapids — where you are almost guaranteed to get wet — and the new Journey to Atlantis roller coaster, which you can see from the picture below involves water as well. Why not make a big splash?
 There's lots more — Manatee Rescue, Flamingo Cove, Clydesdale Hamlet, Aquarium de la Mer, Garden of Discovery, Anheuser-Busch Hospitality Center and a Games and Entertainment Center — as well as several places to eat and shop so you'll want to plan to spend a full day at SeaWorld San Diego at Mission Bay.
Take our SeaWorld San Diego Tour which includes round-trip transportation from your hotel, park admission and shows.
All Sea World photos by SeaWorld San Diego © 2003/2004 by Sea World, Inc.
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Go San Diego Card
multi-attraction pass includes San Diego Harbor Excursions, Whale Watching Excursions and much more.
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