San Diego Saturdays: Explore San Diego by Defying the Elements

Here’s something to do on a Saturday: explore San Diego by transcending nature with technology. San Diego has remarkable opportunities to fly using balloons, gliders, and planes, as well as diving underwater to explore a ship. Or, you can just play it safe and step on a world-famous ship aboveground, still docked and floating. You might even learn a little history, too. So, without further ado, here are five ways to defy the elements and make your Saturday an unforgettable moment in your life.

Gliding in Torrey Pines

For hang-gliding and paragliding, hit up the Torrey Pines Gliderport, situated on the cliff over Black’s Beach. It’s the largest tandem operation on Earth, and it’s appropriately listed on the National Register of Historic places. The port fits in the little Torrey Pines neighborhood next to the Torrey Pines State Reserve, the Salk Institute, the Torrey Pines Golf Course, and UCSD. Paragliding is $175 a pop, and for $225 you can hang-glide (both are cheaper when paying with cash). Just like skydiving, the instructor rides with you the entire time (aka tandem). All instructors have decades of experience, so have no fear. Alternatively, you can sign up for flight school and learn how to glide on your own. 

You don’t have to reserve a thing. Just call ([858] 452-9858) and check if the weather is good enough for jumps. If you don’t have the money for the ride, lounge at the Cliffhanger Cafe and absorb its 350 foot drop view. Buy a sandwich or set up a picnic, and watch the gliders do their thing.

Star of India

The Star of India is the world’s oldest active sailing ship, originally built in 1863 sporting the name Euterpe. On its first trip, the Euterpe suffered a crash and its captain experienced a mutiny; on the second trip, the Star encountered a cyclone. Needless to say, it survived. At the turn of the century, its name was changed to the Star of India. It worked as a cargo ship, a passenger ship, and a fishing ship, and it’s been around the world 21 times.

For $16 (less if you’re a kid or elderly) you can see the Star and all the other fun ships at the Maritime Museum such as the B-39 Submarine. Inside the Star you can read informative displays, look at uncanny mannequins emulating 19th century sailors, and, uh, examine the out-of-use privy. 

Wreck Alley

Wreck Alley is an artificial reef made of purposefully sunken ships off the shore of Mission Beach. The flagship is the Yukon. Launched as a ship in 1961 and sunk as a reef in 2000, it’s a wildly popular scuba diving spot.

The Yukon was once a 366-foot long Canadian destroyer escort. Now 100 feet deep and surrounded by 50 degree water, you can see its barnacles, anemone, fish, starfish--the works. Inside the ship, divers can use their 17 minutes of air to explore the engines, the rudder room, the captain’s cabin, and other horror movie material. 

Upon its ceremonious sinking, the Yukon was supposed to land upright. To the surprise of everyone, including the hotel rooms full of scuba divers, the Yukon accidentally landed sideways. This makes for limited entrances and exits to the Yukon, and some very dark and frightening rooms. It goes without saying, but this trip is for experienced divers only. There are other Wreck Alley ships, such as the Coronado and the NOSC, that are much better for beginners. 

If you’re a very experienced diver, you can do a shore dive. Look up the Wreck Alley logistics on a website like this one--it’s pretty complicated, so I’ll let online scuba divers do the talking!             

Hot Air Ballooning

A hot air balloon is humanity’s oldest form of flight, dating back to ancient China. For your modern recreational balloon needs, a small company called Panda Air Bear consistently scores the highest in San Diego. You can ride in their 67 foot tall panda face balloon, or another one donning a caduceus (the universal medicine logo).

Panda offers private flights only--that makes for photo ops, personal attention, and no 18-person crammed balloons. The owner and pilot, Tim, is a retired marine, and is very personable. He and his team put you in a Jeep and cruise around looking for a takeoff spot. Then, he balloons over Del Mar and Rancho Santa Fe for around an hour, telling riveting stories but also keeping silent to let you enjoy the scenery. Speaking of which, you’ll see the polo fields, the mansions of Rancho Santa Fe, the ocean, and some prancing deer. The whole package is a good deal, going in the neighborhood of $670.

Biplane Tours

Do you ever find yourself taking off in a plane and wishing it would just keep gliding right above the city? Well, there are a lot of biplane tours in San Diego that offer an amazing view, along with the exhilarating feeling of an open cockpit. Here’s one of the best companies: San Diego Sky Tours. Owned by veterans, they offer one-person open cockpit biplane rides, plus less scary closed cockpit tours that fit your entire family. All rides are equipped with headsets so you can hear the pilot describe landmarks and communicate with air traffic controllers. Needless to say, people who have experienced these rides believe they are thrilling and unforgettable. It’s like a free-form roller coaster.

The tours run for 20, 30, or 60 minutes and start at $169 a person. If there’s only one thing you could do as a tourist, this might be it. It’s literally a summary of San Diego.