Guide to Oceanside: how to get there and where to stay, what to see and where to go in the evening. The highlights of Oceanside include fresh reviews and photos, places to see, branded entertainment and shopping.
Oceanside, California’s northernmost city, is located almost exactly halfway between San Diego and Los Angeles. It is a small pleasant resort town with more than five kilometers of good beaches, a famous pier and great weather all year round. See citypopulationreview for state facts, symbols and history of Kentucky.
How to get to Oceanside
The nearest airport McClellan-Palomar in Carlsbad receives flights from Los Angeles and Las Vegas. But most travelers arrive in Oceanside from the San Diego International Airport. In addition, there are Amtrak trains from San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo to the city.
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A bit of history
The first Europeans appeared here, on the lands originally inhabited by Indians, in 1769. A Catholic mission was founded on the site of an Indian village. Like all of California, this territory belonged to Spain, then, from 1821 to 1848, to Mexico. The city was founded in the 1880s. and until the middle of the next century remained a sleepy beach town. In 1942, the Pendleton Naval Base appeared a little to the south, and the military settled in Oceanside. Today, along with its nearest neighbors, Carlsbad and Vista, Oceanside forms, as it were, a single urban area.
Entertainment and attractions of Oceanside
Mission San Luis Rey, Oceanside’s most significant historic landmark, is located on Mission Avenue. It was built in 1798 and became the 18th in a row, but the largest of the 21 California missions. The modern building of the church, the third in a row, dates from 1811. The mission is still functioning; it also opened a museum, through the expositions of which you can trace the history of the region. And around the mission buildings there are beautiful gardens for walking.
Mount Ecclesia on Mission Avenue is a historic district with interesting architecture. Ancient landscapes and gardens have been largely preserved here, so walking around Mount Ecclesia is a real pleasure. In addition, the international headquarters of the mystical-Christian order of the Rosicrucians is located here with a beautiful sacred temple of Healing, built in 1920.
3 things to do in Oceanside:
- Have an early breakfast at one of the many restaurants on the Coast Highway, and then walk to the pier (closer) or to the harbor (away).
- Find the house from the movie “Top Gun” with Tom Cruise.
- Take a trip to pretty Carlsbad Village.
One of the city’s most iconic and popular sites is the picturesque wooden Oceanside Pier, nearly 600 meters long. The first pier was built in 1888, but was destroyed by a storm a couple of years later, and today’s reincarnation of the structure – already the sixth in a row – dates back to 1987 At the foot of the pier is the Junior Seaau Amphitheater, where outdoor events take place all year round. At the end of the pier is the famous Ruby restaurant, decorated in the style of classic American divers of the 50s, and it offers a good view of the popular surf spot.
Oceanside Pier is also popular for another reason: under California law, fishing from man-made structures does not require a license.
The Oceanside Museum of Art is located downtown in a historic building that reflects the spirit of California in the 1930s. Once it was occupied by the City Hall and the library. Today, this small museum houses regularly changing exhibitions by contemporary artists. The Music Making Museum was founded to tell the history of American musical instruments from the 1890s to the present. and up to our days. The Model Train Museum is located in Oceanside Heritage Park and features over 80 square meters of toy railway. m. In the park itself, several buildings of the American Wild West are recreated, including a forge, a barn and a prison.
The California Surfing Museum is located on Pier View, downtown. It was founded in 1986 in Encinitas, but moved to Oceanside in 1991. Here you can see art, memorabilia, equipment, photographs, magazines, videos and, of course, boards. Among them are even wooden boards from the early 1900s. The museum also has an exhibition dedicated to the legendary professional surfer Bethany Hamilton, who lost her arm when meeting a tiger shark, but triumphantly returned to the sport and continued her career. About 20 thousand people visit the museum every year. It also hosts a three-day surf film festival, Legends Day, every year.
Oceanside Harbor is a good place for wildlife watching, even if you don’t intend to rent a boat and prefer to stay on the shore. Here you can see how pelicans dive for fish, flocks of dolphins patrol the coastline, and seals lie on the shallows and noisy sea lions growl.
The San Luis Rey river route, about 11 km long, runs along the southern bank of the river of the same name, passing under several bridges. This is a great place for cycling. And Guahome Park, on the east side of the city, is a popular recreational spot with a pond, horseback riding along designated trails, and birdwatching.
Many, not without reason, believe that the best thing about Oceanside is sandy ocean beaches with all the infrastructure, ample parking and entertainment for every taste. So, Wisconsin Street Beach stretches along the street of the same name and the Strand: it is the least visited, because it is rather narrow and disappears altogether at high tide. Another thing is the beach area just behind the pier, to the south: there is everything you need to relax all day long, and crowds of people use it.
A small local sardine fish, the granyon, swims every 2-3 weeks from March until early autumn directly to Oceanside Beach to spawn. It usually starts around midnight and goes on for 3 nights in a row. You can see the fish with your own eyes if you move further north with a flashlight: street lights scare the fish.
Tyson Street Beach adjoins Tyson Park, an ideal place for picnics. To the north of the pier are the beaches, where there is much more free space. Just south of the harbor is the quiet, family-run Breakwater Way, where the river flows into the ocean. Beach Oceanside Boulevard separates the ocean from private homes, and this area is closed to surfers, like the neighboring beach of Buccaneer, the smallest of the city.
Oceanside Events
On Thursday mornings, Pierce View Avenue hosts a farmers’ market, and on the same day in the evening, Oceanside Sunset Market opens with live music, quirky fast food, fresh farm produce and displays of contemporary art.
Every year, since 2006, the unique Race Ecross America starts in Oceanside. This usually happens in the second week of June. This race, according to many experts, is the most difficult sporting event in the world. The length of the transcontinental route is approximately 4800 km, and the participants cover it in a little over a week. The peculiarity of the competition is also that it does not provide for stops: each of the participants can stop when it is absolutely necessary for him, but the clock continues to tick.
Neighborhood Oceanside
If you move north from the city, towards Carlsbad, along the Coast Highway, you will reach the Buena Vista Lagoon. The wildlife center is located here, and the nature route for self-guided hikes begins. Nearby is the Agua Hedionda Lagoon Nature Center, located on an elevated position with stunning views of the lagoon. There are also hiking trails here. A little further south is the Batikitos lagoon with a hiking trail right along the shore and interesting exhibits in the tourist center.
Escondido is located about 25 minutes by car from Oceanside, heading inland towards San Diego. Here in Kit Carson Park is Queen Califia’s Magic Circle, a unique sculpture garden with free admission. It was created by the sculptor Niki de Saint Phalle. This is a bright and phantasmagorical place, filled with statues of fantastic creatures and a bit reminiscent of Gaudí’s park. Near the sculpture garden there is a rather large natural park and an arboretum.
