13 Things To Do in Chula Vista, California

Splash Down Water Slides at Aquatica Waterpark

Aquatica San Diego is still the only SeaWorld-owned water park in the U.S. that has both scary rides that drop from great heights and less scary rides that are good for little kids. You can relax as you float down the winding waterslides at Taumata Racer or get a rush of energy by racing against each other on Tassie’s Twister’s ridiculously high starting platforms. Brave walk the plank style slides teetering over edges or dare Walhalla Wave’s trapdoor entry plunging you into a six-story tunnel abyss. Parents can relax at Tot Tide Pool’s interactive water playground with no-depth entry and small slides that are great for children.

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You can relax in the lazy river or on the white sand beaches with views of Mission Bay when you need to recover. Since most SeaWorld passes come with tickets to both parks, it’s easy to combine them for a savings and ease of use. You can make fun memories at Aquatica Waterpark by splashing down waterslides that range from gentle to wild, with choices for people of all ages.

Embark on a Craft Beer Brewery Crawl

With three well-known breweries offering unique ales, creative tasting rooms, and stylishly industrial vibes, Chula Vista is becoming known as a new craft beer location. Novo Brazil Brewing combines the boldness of Brazil with the skill of the West. They specialize in making unique Chula Vista takes on classic lagers and ales, often using tropical fruits or other local ingredients. You can drink their own beer in a big lounge area with chairs, yard games, and cozy fire pits. At the same time, Aqua Vista Brewing’s family-owned cageless taproom has experimental small batch brews with flavors that change often and 12 rotating taps to find.

Take in the laid-back beach town vibes while drinking weird brews with over-the-top blends that show off unusual ingredient combinations. But Bay Bridge Brewing, which is located in a strange building from World War II that used to make fighter planes, was the first brewery in Chula Vista to become popular. Today, the huge warehouse that was turned into a tasting room has exposed ductwork and Edison lights hanging from the ceiling to give it an industrial feel. In addition to making tasty beers, each brewery has a very different personality, taproom layout, and street cred, which makes Chula Vista’s diverse range of areas even more interesting.

Wander the Chula Vista Nature Center

In the 1970s, concerned citizens started a grassroots campaign to stop the development of sensitive marshlands on the edge of San Diego Bay. This led to the creation of the Chula Vista Nature Center, which is a great example of how environmental activism can have a positive effect. Today, tourists can spend time in thriving marshes that are home to many kinds of migratory birds along the Great Pacific Flyway. With a Bird’s Eye View Webcam, you can peek into active nests where fuzzy chicks are hiding, or you can walk along winding trails and look for bright native plants that hummingbirds and butterflies love to visit.

As kids climb up three-story lookouts, they can see the sparkling skyline of downtown San Diego across the bay. Below, happy river otters slide down the banks into the water, where they play. Interactive displays show how coastal marshes support a huge variety of life and play an important role in cleaning up pollution that is needed for our survival and the survival of future generations. At the Chula Vista Nature Center, exploring the beautiful natural wetlands that have been so well protected makes you want to do more to protect the environment.

Savor Latin Inspired Cuisine and Vibes

A lot of Pan Latino immigrants have brought zesty cultural flavors to Chula Vista, which can be seen most clearly in its thriving restaurant scene. Cafes, street food stands, and high-end restaurants all serve food with Central American flavors, like pepitas, plantains, chorizo, and chicharron, along with Mexican dishes that are common in border towns. For daring food finds, try al pastor tacos cooked on tall vertical spits, sopaipillas smothered in warm honey, or giant burritos covered in complex moles.

Many places get their fresh seafood from piers just minutes away. They also get premium cuts of grass-fed beef and exotic spice blends to make the food taste even better. During the night, Salsa music plays in busy dance clubs and on open-air decks where couples dance and swirl around each other without any trouble. The Pan Latin community in Chula Vista adds a unique flavor to the dining and nightlife scenes with their Latin passion and time-honored cultural customs.

Stroll the Chula Vista Elite Outlets

The huge Chula Vista Elite Outlets has more than 100 name-brand stores spread out over several large plazas connected by fun courtyards with dancing ponds in the middle. Shop at well-known stores like Nike, Under Armour, Kenneth Cole, and Coach. All of them are heavily discounted, with deals of up to 75% off making bargain hunters happy. There are also 12 relaxed restaurants, such as Pieology Pizzeria, Lucille’s Smokehouse Bar-B-Que, and Panera Bread, that are great for food when you need to refuel after shopping at the outlet mall.

With San Diego’s always-perfect weather, the open-air, pedestrian-friendly layout makes it fun to just wander around. If you like to do a lot of serious shopping, there are helpful guides all over the store that make it easy to find your favorite brands. You’ll almost certainly find things on your wish list at the Chula Vista Shopping Center Bargain Bonanza because it’s big and has a lot of trusted brands.

Explore Nature at Otay Valley Regional Park

Otay Valley Regional Park is one of Chula Vista’s favorite places to get away to nature. It covers more than 8,500 acres. There are many different types of ecosystems in the park, such as riparian forests, oak woodlands, and rolling meadows. People have seen over 200 kinds of birds in the park, as well as many mammals, snakes, and plants.

You can choose from a lot of trails based on your interests and level of fitness. The multi-use Von’s Trail goes through beautiful wilderness and has some steep parts. If you want a truly memorable nature experience, explore the park on horseback and look at the old bedrock mortars along the relatively flat Wigeon Way Loop.

Don’t miss the amazing views from the Summit Loop Trail. You can see the city, woods, and mountains all in one view. If the sky is clear, you might even be able to see Mexico far away. Hikers, mountain bikers, and horseback riders can all enjoy the beautiful native scenery of southern California at Otay Valley Regional Park.

Tee Off on Championship Greens

You can play golf at two nationally ranked courses in Chula Vista. Both have beautiful fields, well-kept greens, and panoramic views. Golf Digest says that Salt Creek Golf Club is the 17th best course in California because of its difficult, narrow greens lined with big trees. The sloping greens and carefully placed bunkers at Salt Creek, which were designed by Brian Curly, make even the best golfers work hard. The clubhouse has a full-service bar and diner, as well as colonial Spanish architecture with beautiful arches and terracotta roof tiles.

Golfweek named EastLake Country Club one of the best private courses in the country. If you like links-style courses that look like famous Scottish greens, you should go there. The rolling fairways with thick grass and bright flowerbeds look stunning next to the tall trees. Both places have high-end amenities, great game conditions, and world-class golf experiences. With two nationally ranked courses, Chula Vista becomes one of the best places to play golf in Southern California.

Paddle Along the San Diego Bay

If you want to go stand up paddleboarding without a lot of other people, go to the part of San Diego Bay near Chula Vista. The calm water is shared by sailboats, ships, and kayakers. While you’re on your board, use your core strength and a long paddle to move forward. Whether you’ve done paddleboarding before or not, you’ll love the beautiful views of downtown San Diego’s skyline in the distance. You can paddle under the 125-year-old Chula Vista Marina’s sweeping arches or go for a walk through salt marshes and nature preserves that are full of native plants and animals.

Many businesses, like Paddle Chula Vista or Epic Watersports, give out gear, teach classes, offer tours, and make sure that people of all ages and skill levels can have a fun and safe time on the bay. A pod of playful dolphins or sea lions might show up out of the blue if you’re lucky. Paddleboarding on Chula Vista Bay is one of the best ways to see San Diego while also getting a great workout for your whole body.

Soak Up Some Science at the Living Coast Discovery Center

The Living Coast Discovery Center is a popular place for families to visit. It is an aquatic zoo and environmental education center located on San Diego Bay that shows off the very different ecosystems that can be found where mountains and the sea meet. In the shark and ray touch pools, you can get up close and personal with threatened shark species. In the big tanks, you can watch fish, turtles, and sting rays glide gracefully while sharks watch from above. As you walk through natural reserves, you may see local birds, plants, and even endangered species like clapper rails that have found safety here.

Interactive displays show how important marshes are for naturally cleaning water and providing a lot of places for aquatic species to breed, which is necessary for their survival. Through unforgettable close-ups with amazing aquatic life, The Living Coast hopes to make people more aware of how fragile San Diego’s unique coastal habitats are and to encourage future generations to take action for protection.

Tour the Historic Adobe at Rancho San Diego

People who are interested in history and building will love Rancho San Diego’s hidden historic gem, which is at the base of the beautiful Mount San Miguel. This renovated one-story adobe building was once the headquarters for the Rancho San Diego land grant, which was created in 1845. It is now a branch of the Central Library. The 166-year-old relic was built by hand from sun-dried bricks, ox blood, and straw. Its rounded edges, wooden verandas, and Mission-style architecture make it easy to spot.

Years of changes were taken out during renovations, revealing the original dance hall floors, skylights, and 15-foot vaulted ceilings. People who come to see one of the last surviving Californian ranchos from Mexico’s colonial era feel like they’ve gone back in time. The calm gardens, bubbling fountains, and vine-covered walls take you back to rancho life in the middle of the 1800s, when cattle farmers ruled the rough countryside. In the middle of Chula Vista, the Rancho San Diego Adobe is a surprising place to learn about history.

Roam the Grounds of the Historic Star Ranch

Nestled in the rolling hills of east Chula Vista, Star Ranch Heritage Park is a 7.4-acre site with a mix of nature and historic buildings that shows how people lived in California in the early days. The name “Star Ranch” comes from the cattle brand of the early owners who helped Chula Vista grow. The land used to be part of Rancho Janal. You can stroll through fragrant rose gardens, walk along paths that wind through oak forests, and watch ponds full of ducks, egrets, and herons while taking in the stunning views of the mesa.

Check out an original home from the 1890s that is fully decorated with items and furniture from the time period. This will give you an idea of what life on a ranch was like in the early 1900s. In other old buildings on the property, there is a large collection of arrowheads and displays about the people who helped Chula Vista grow. Star Ranch Heritage Park brings Californian history to life on grounds that show important times in the early westward spread of the United States.

Brave Mt. San Miguel’s Trails

If you’re ready to hike to the top of Mount San Miguel, which is 1,150 feet above the northern neighborhoods of Chula Vista, you’ll be rewarded with beautiful views of the coast and mountains. There are many ways to get through the Jacobs Nature Preserve. Each one is different in terms of effort and scenery, and they are all connected by fire roads and moderately difficult hiking trails. The path with the fewest steps goes up and down 5 miles of switchbacks through shady oak groves and canyons. As you slowly make your way up, you can see views of the area through windows in the trees at different heights. To get to the top faster, take the steeper, narrower trails that go along the east hill with the boulders.

As you climb up the steep chaparral-covered trails marked by huge boulders and exposed rock formations on the Frondoso Trail, you’ll see a ruggedly beautiful landscape. From the top of Mount San Miguel, you can see all the way across San Diego Bay to Ocean Beach, all the way from Mexico. It’s a beautiful treat for all your hard work.

Conclusion

The green foothills and sparkling water in Chula Vista make it a great place to relax and enjoy the outdoors. Aside from nature and scenery, the city also has lively multicultural neighborhoods with family activities, breweries, restaurants, and other interesting things to see.

Just a few miles from the Mexican border, Chula Vista is at the intersection of desert and sea. The city welcomes its many influences, creating a rich heritage that can be seen in its art, architecture, food, and community. If you want to have a memorable trip, you can go golfing, watch whales, or paddleboard across the bay in one of Chula Vista’s many neighborhoods.