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Sports Equipment Stores
Long Board Grotto Surf Shop: 978 N. Highway 101, (Encinitas) 760-634-1920. This surf store is dedicated exclusively to Long Boards and "Eggs" which are the best kind of boards to learn on. The place deals mainly with used boards (which are MUCH cheaper than new ones but quite expensive nonetheless).
The Bycycle Warehouse: 4670 Santa Fe (Pacific Beach) 858-273-7300. The Warehouse carries a wide selection of bikes and bike equipment. They also have a mountain biking club (see below for details).
Outback Adventures: 711 Artist’s Lane (UCSD campus) 858-534-0684. You can rent skiing and camping equipment really cheap here. They also lead hiking, kayaking, and canoe trips.
Play it Again Sports: 1401 Garnet (Pacific Beach) 858-490-0222. Play it Again Sports buys and sells used sporting goods equipment and sports accessories. You can get great deals here, especially if you want to take up a sport but do not want to invest in brand-new equipment. The store features surfboards, SCUBA equipment, bikes, climbing equipment and roller-blades along with the usual balls, bats, mitts, etc. that are used in team sports. They also feature some new equipment.
REI: 5556 Copley Drive (Clairemont) 858-279-4400. REI sells camping, climbing, hiking, biking, and canoeing equipment very cheap. They also have kayak and canoe rentals. A membership here is pretty cheap and gets you large discounts. This place is a definite must before a camping trip.
Second Chance Sports: 4811 W. Point Loma Blvd. (Ocean Beach) 619-224-9524. A couple named Jeff and Marla Rauthause run this store, and it specializes in used sports equipment. Marla is very helpful and knows a lot about women’s sizes for wetsuits.

Classes/Leagues
UCSD has sports classes and leagues, as well as recreational hiking and canoeing trips, etc. Call 858-534-4037 for general recreation information. Examples of classes include diving, sailing, surfing, tennis, aerobics, underwater basketweaving, weight training, martial arts, ballroom dancing, and yoga. There is a recreation booklet available at Rimac Gym that details the classes available or info online at recreation.UCSD.edu.
Every summer Scripps has a Softball league. When the time comes to make teams, you will no doubt get countless emails about it and be constantly nagged about joining your lab’s team.
The UTC ice rink has a Hockey league that anyone can join. Log onto www.icetown.com or call 858-452-9110.

Shiley Sports and Health Center features many classes such as step aerobics, masters swimming, yoga, and body sculpting. They print out new activity guides every couple months that you can pick up at their front desk. Membership is free for graduate students.

Biking
The Mountain Bike Guide - San Diego Region by Scott Bringe (Sunbelt Publications, Inc. San Diego 1993) is the book to consult for a great summary of all the places to ride in the San Diego Area. The book contains tips on biking in Southern California terrain, precise directions on how to get to the trails, and a concise description and rating of the rides. Suggestions for rides within 20 miles of Scripps include Los Penasquitos Preserve, San Clemente Canyon, Lake Hodges, and Tecolote Canyon. Some other places that Scripps students recommend are the Del Mar Mesa trails, Noble Canyon, the fire roads in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, and Otay Mountain.
The Mountain Bike Warehouse (see sports equipment stores) not only sells biking accessories and clothing, but it also has a mountain biking club. A yearly membership includes scheduled rides for all levels of rider, a newsletter, riding jersey, and free workshops on riding and bike maintenance. This is a great way to meet potential riding partners and find out about new places to off-road.
As mentioned above, the Cantina Mountain Bike Shop has trail rides in Los Penasquitos every Wednesday afternoon. The shop also has a bunch of free local bike/athletic magazines piled in front (as do most bike shops) which are full of rides and biking club information.
For those of you who live south of the 52, there is a way to bike from south San Diego up to La Jolla/UTC/Scripps. Try the Rose Canyon bike path. It connects Santa Fe Street in Pacific Beach with Gilman Drive in La Jolla colony. If you bike all the way up Gilman Drive and through the UCSD campus, you will come out at the North entrance, which is at the Genessee/North Torrey Pines intersection.
A semi-annual event known to bikers all around San Diego is the Rosarito-Ensenada bike ride. This 50-mile trek takes you from Rosarito (about half an hour south of Tijuana) down the Mexican coastal highway to Ensenada where lots of food and beer and good times await you. The sponsors provide the transportation back to Rosarito so you don’t have to bike back. The ride attracts bikers of all ages and skill levels, ranging from professional bikers who race to the finish line to drunken party-goers who end up hitching a ride in one of the support vans.

Camping/Hiking
Julian seems to be the Scripps grad students’ number one choice for places to hike that are close to San Diego. It takes about 1 _ to 2 hours to drive to Julian, but its a very scenic drive - it winds through the foothills and countryside. The area around Julian is beautiful with lots of mountains and marked trails. And a perfect reward for a long hike is a piece of Julian apple pie. The trip home is usually co-incident with the sunset which can be very pretty (or blinding) when driving on the 8.
Nearby Julian are the Cuyamaca Mountains. Here you can find hikes ranging from 0.7 to 12 miles. The scenery is very much like eastern coastal mountains with big oak trees, and other hardwoods as well as pine trees. This mountain range is less than an hour away so it is truly a feasible day trip.
Torrey Pines State Reserve is also good for short hikes. The trails are great for running or short afternoon walks. A favorite is the Beach Trail, which goes right down to the beach and is not very difficult.
Another place in the San Diego area is Cabrilllo National Monument. This park on the tip of the Point Loma Peninsula is known for its excellent tide pools (only during low tide) and beautiful ocean views.
The desert is also nice to hike around in, especially in late March-early April when the wildflowers are in bloom. Lots of bookstores carry wildflower information booklets that you can carry with you on your hike to identify flowers with. Don’t forget to take lots of water and sunscreen with you. Camping in the desert is fun too, but you should not do it in the summer when you will have to lug your big backpack around in 100-degree temperatures. Also, keep in mind that even though the desert is very warm during the day, it gets really cold at night.
For a complete listing of hikes in the San Diego area, the book "Afoot and Afield in San Diego County" by Jerry Schad (Wilderness Press, Berkeley, 1993) is highly recommended and a must for anybody who is interested in day hikes or longer excursions. The book is up to date, and has complete instructions and road maps showing how to get to the trailheads.

Fishing
There are no fees or licenses needed to fish from the following piers:
o Coronado Pier (Orange Avenue in Coronado)
o Crystal Pier (Garnet Street in Pacific Beach)
o Embarcadero Marina Park Pier (200 Marina Park Way, Downtown)
o Imperial Beach Pier (Evergreen Avenue and Ocean Lane in Imperial Beach)
o Oceanside Pier (3rd Street in Oceanside)
o San Diego Public Fishing Pier (Niagara Avenue in Ocean Beach)

Ice Skating
The University Town Center (UTC) has an indoor skating rink where you can rent skates and go round-and-round the rink while listing to bad music. Call Ice Town at 858-452-9110 for skating hours. The San Diego Ice Arena at 11048 Ice Skate Place (Mira Mesa) also has skating.Call 858-530-1825 for skating hours. A discount is offered on Tuesday evenings.

Frisbee-golf
This is a spin-off of traditional golf, but instead of using clubs and a ball, you use Frisbees. The object is to throw the disc into the baskets (holes). Distances between the holes average more than 270 feet. Par for the 18-hole course ranges from 54 to 60. Rules are posted. Tee off is at the eastern end of Morley Field. Call 619-692-3607 for directions. There is a fee of $2 per day on week days and $2.50 on weekends.

Rock Climbing
There is an indoor gym in UTC (Vertical Hold, 9580 Distribution Ave.), and one in Old Town off the 5 (Solid Rock Gym, 2074 Hancock Street), both of which offer climbing walls. There is also a nice climbing wall in La Jolla by the beach that is very exposed to the sun but nice to climb on in the evenings.

Running
For people who live in the UTC area, UCSD has some nice running trails, and it’s pretty safe to run around UTC (along Town Center Drive) as well. There are some great jogging trails in the Torrey Pines State Reserve if you don’t mind an occasional rattlesnake. As far as running events go, there are many road races in the San Diego area, from 5K to marathon distance. These, as well as many multi-sport events (triathlons, biathlons) are listed in a free publication called RacePlace which can be picked up at any local sporting goods store (Fleet Feet, Road Runner Sports, Sports Chalet) or call them at 858-485-9806. This magazine has a calendar and entry forms for various sporting events in San Diego, Orange, and LA Counties. Go to www.raceplace.com for more information.

Sailing & Jetskiing
Mission Bay is a great place to do watersports that require calmer water than the ocean. C.P. Sailing & Motor Sports offers rentals for sailboats, aquacycles, powerboats, and sailboards. Prices range from $18 to $90 an hour. They are located in the Hilton Hotel at 1775 E. Mission Bay Drive (619-276-4010), and at the Dana Inn & Marina at 1710 W. Mission Bay Drive (619-222-6440). The Mission Bay Sport Center at 1010 Santa Clara Place (858-488-1004) provides services for water sports. Hourly rental prices are: sailboards, $18; surfboards, $10; wetsuits, $5; sailboats, $18 to $45; powerboats, $85 to $100. Half-day and full-day rates are also available. And finally, the Seaforth Boat Rental at 1641 Quivira Road (858-223-1681) offers skiff rentals for Mission Bay and San Diego Bay. They also rent jet skis, speedboats, and canoes and offer private fishing charters.

Scuba & Skin Diving
The Diving Locker at 1020 Grand Avenue in Pacific Beach offers scuba certification classes, swimming lessons, rentals of all equipment and dive/boat trips. Call 858-272-1120 for more information.
Ocean Enterprises at 7710 Balboa Avenue (858-565-6054) offers weekend and evening PADI classes for all levels and ages. They also have rentals and scuba boat trips.

Another place to get training is the Water Education Training Center (WET) at 2525 Morena Blvd in Bay Park. They offer YMCA, PADI, NAUI, and CMAS water education classes, as well as dive/boat trips and rentals.
Surfing
Learning to Surf:
UCSD has a class that is supposed to be pretty good, and Kahuna Bob also offers classes and provides the wetsuits and boards. For all you gals out there, there’s a surf school especially for chicks, called Surf Diva Surf School (858-454-7273). There are also many people at Scripps who surf and would also gladly take you along.
Where to Go:
A word of warning: it’s a bad idea to go surfing alone when you are starting out. Also be forewarned that the surf is much bigger, nastier, and colder in the winter than in the summer. Beware of cutting people off (dropping in) in crowded conditions-this can lead to altercations. Make sure you pay attention at beaches—surfing is sometimes delimited within certain boundaries, so check for flags. Also, surfing is very difficult to learn, but it’s worth sticking it out in the end—truly a mystical sport. One last caveat: surf conditions in San Diego are extremely variable from one day and area to the next, but usually better in the winter and lake-like in the summer. A tidal calendar can be found at scilib.ucsd.edu/sio/tide/pier2000.html.
Del Mar - anywhere between 9th and 15th street is quite nice and usually not too crowded. The 11th street access is a not-too-deadly scramble down a cliff trail, but the waves are sometimes worth it. Be careful of reefs here, and be forewarned - the break can be pretty sizable. It’s an unprotected beach, however, and is often blown out and shifty.
Torrey Pines - this little beach gets extremely busy in the summer and should be avoided at all costs during tourist season. On winter weeknights or early mornings the surf is good for boogie boarding but is a bit small and crumbly for surfing. There are also many rocks.
Pacific Beach - Tourmaline is the spot preferred by many surfers. If you go there at 7 or 8 am on a weekday you’ll no doubt notice the surf is populated bunch of older (40-60 years old) men who started surfing in the 60s and have been longboarding there ever since. The people that frequent this beach tend to be very territorial and you should take pains to be extra nice to them when you surf on THEIR beach. But usually, people are quite mellow, resulting in a much woman-friendly surfing environment.
Pacific Beach - Law Street is just south of Tourmaline and just north of the Crystal Pier. It is much less crowded than Tourmaline and the people there a lot more friendly towards novice surfers. The break is also nice and gradual (which means a lot of paddling out but consistently nice waves).
Cardiff - you can park along side the 1 and hike down to the beach here. The waves are nice, but the beach is rocky. You should be especially careful to surf where the water is quite deep, as you run the risk of cracking your head on the rocky ocean bottom.
La Jolla Shores - this is another beach that gets really crowded during tourist season and is best avoided in the summer months. The beach is very gradual and produces an ok break that is usually about 2-4 feet (and usually closes out). It’s a great beach to learn on and conveniently located near Scripps.
Blacks Beach - don’t be surprised - people do surf naked here. Top nominee for the most beautiful beach in San Diego. However, it is a nudist beach, which tends to attract either built gay men, or, unfortunately, straight men with sexual hang-ups. Not necessarily a good place to go to alone if you’re a woman. The trek to the beach is a long steep cliff. There are many locals, and occasionally a few pros who surf here. The wave is good, but fast, and prone to be violent when it gets big, especially in the winter. For this reason, it’s not recommended as a good place for those who are just starting out.
La Jolla - Windandsea is more a beach for the advanced surfer. The waves can get huge (but nice) and there are rocks and reefs to be navigated. If that’s not enough to deter you, then you should also be forewarned that the old surfers here (them again) can be very territorial and suspicious of non-locals. The break is very localized, and thus, when it’s crowded, it’s competitive. Windandsea is best for watching surfers.
Scripps Pier - same as Shores, but just a wee bit north and usually better, and sometimes less crowded. Check out the North Side of the pier. Many people don’t surf there that often and sometimes the breaks just as good as the South side.
Ocean Beach - Dog Beach - Sometimes closed due to high E. coli levels when it rains, but usually a good break, if somewhat always crowded. Try the weekdays in the afternoons.
Imperial Beach - don’t even bother. The break sucks and there is a lot of sewage runoff here from TJ which causes the beach to be closed on a consistent basis.
Sunset Cliffs- A decent deep-water break, especially for longboards, and also a very beautiful beach. The downside is: no ladder down the sheer cliffs, getting in through the pounding surf on the rocks, and getting out through the pounding surf on the concrete jetty. No sense of timing? Don’t try it.
Swimming
Shiley has a pool with lots of free swim hours. The best times to go are in the mid-afternoon or evenings (when the rest of the world is doing other things). There are also masters swim classes, which I am told are a great way to meet people and challenge yourself. If pool swimming is not for you, then the ocean is a great place for a good workout. The La Jolla Cove is very popular amongst swimmers and there are annual rough-water swims from the Cove to La Jolla Shores.
Volleyball
Mission Bay, La Jolla Shores and Balboa Park all have grass volleyball courts. Almost every beach from the Mexican border to Los Angeles has a volleyball court and net set up including one at Blacks Beach where clothing is optional. And for those of you who want to play beach volleyball but don’t want to go to the beach, Shiley has their own beach volleyball court.
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