The Ocean View-San Diego's Beach Culture

Few things offer more tranquility than the blue ocean front and summer warm beaches. San Diego has some of the world's best beaches where Tommy Bahama umbrellas and sandals are part of the natural landscape. La Jolla, Pacific Beach, Ocean Beach, and Imperial Beach offers distinct feel and vibe. Each has their own community built up around the beach culture.

What is the beach culture? Beach culture is very laid back where few things in life seem to matter. Time stops for those in it. Many adherents spend hours in the beaches and parks sitting on the tables, spread out on a blanket, surfing, and eating in many of the local restaurants. It is a culture where one lives in the moment and cares little for the normal motivations in life.

If you spend some time in these communities you come to find that they have distinct groupings of people in the beach enclaves where they live. They often know each other by name and see the same faces beyond 5:00pm when most of the outside beach goes go back home. The locals have their places to eat, bars, and social gatherings that create a beach community.

The majority of beach areas are not particularly fancy and can be a little run down. Old cars, rusty railings, simple housing, counter culture cafes, and whiskey bars. People feel more comfortable in shorts, t-shirts and second hand attire than anything elegant. The streets are lined with VW buses and sun faded Ford escorts. Bikes are locked onto fencing and street signs; an easier mode of transportation.

People flock to these beaches to escape the normal fears and worries of life. As a popular vacation destination San Diego draws approximately 34 million visitors a year (1).  For those people I know in Michigan, San Diego is a vacation mecca they dream about visiting on a regular basis. Attracting a fascination of locals and visitors San Diego beaches are likely to draw visitors for a long time.