When it rains, you realize how many classic San Diego activities depend on sunny and temperate weather. Most folks agree that the sun is better paired with running at the beach with your dog (likely named Oreo), surfing or hiking.
But now that this town is in its wettest months of the year (January through March), here are plenty of things you can do to make sure the rain doesn't dampen your fun.
What to do on a rainy day in San Diego
Liberty Station and Liberty Public Market
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What to Know
- Location: 2816 Decatur Rd.
- Hours: 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day. Individual shop hours vary
- Happy Hour: Daily 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Liberty Station is something like an adult playground. Museums, artisanal boutiques, groceries stores, cafes, bakeries, restaurants, bars, breweries, and more have taken root in the former Naval Training Center San Diego located in Point Loma.
If you haven't been here on a rainy San Diego day, grab a hot coffee to-go, pick an artisan pastry and take a gander around San Diego's premier rustic indoor market, Liberty Public Market (located inside Liberty Station). This daily market is bound to offer something both you and a friend will like, whether your taste is Asian baos, Southern comfort food, kebab, French bakeries or just a good ole' burger.
Need some jewelry? The market has that too. Got a taste for artisanal olive oil? Plenty of those. Every food booth and store is listed here.
Replenish and reflect at the market's Mess Hall Bar, where talented bartenders offer unique and seasonal craft cocktails, beer and rare wines inside the market's main dining room.
If you're looking for something handmade for a special someone, pop into Sea Hive Station, which sells from 150 San Diego-based brands and small businesses.
You can even make friends at the market with frequent gatherings like bingo, trivia nights, live music, improv nights, workshops (pottery, anyone?) and more. Check this page for their market happenings and deals, which are always being added.
For a full mast list of events happening at Liberty Station, click here.
Birch Aquarium at Scripps
What to Know
- Location: 2300 Expedition Way, La Jolla
- Hours: Daily, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (January - February & October - December)
Daily, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. (March 1 - Labor Day) - General admission: $24.95, pricing different for seniors, children, students. Check here
You can explore the ocean from indoors by visiting the hallowed halls of the Birch Aquarium!
A variety of exhibits will take you through tanks of underwater ecosystems journeying from the Pacific Coast to the warmer waters of Mexico and the Caribbean; up close with sharks and rays; on a ride with historic figures like Sally Ride and even an exhibit of the world's smallest penguins (which are about the size of a fat California burrito).
Spectacular La Jolla views await at the Tide Pool Plaza, where you can gently get to know the rocky dwellers.
The aquarium even hosts scientific lectures, plus 21+ events like Oceans at Night once a month, featuring live music, cocktails, games and more. Holiday events are also common at the aquarium. Check their events list here.
Punch Bowl Social San Diego
A rainy afternoon at this former Coliseum Athletic Club is a varied and enjoyable way to spend it, especially with friends.
A piece of San Diego history, the original Coliseum Athletic Club, a former boxing marquee, opened here in 1924 in the East Village.
Almost 100 years later in 2018, Punch Bowl Social opened here, bringing food, drink, and entertainment like table games, karaoke, a vintage arcade and bowling — all in one building (which was also a Jerome's furniture storage facility in the 1980s).
Invite a group of friends for some beers at the 360 bar, grab some burgers to eat and finish off the night with giant scrabble or bocce ball and commemorate it all with a social photo booth!
Be aware of their happy hour deals Monday through Thursday from 4 to 6 p.m.
While you're inside snacking on some cauliflower nachos, remember to gaze up into the high ceilings, knowing the building you're in survived Prohibition, a world war, The Great Depression and a fire.
Visit one of Balboa Park's 18 museums
Balboa Park is a lush playground for museum lovers. From the traditional idea of a museum experience to an IMAX documentary, you won't be bored at Balboa Park on a rainy day. Just keep your umbrella on you and your rainboots snug as you hop from museum to museum!
Classic art museums
- Timken Museum of Art (the only museum in Balboa Park that is FREE)
- The San Diego Museum of Art
Science museums
Historical museums
- San Diego Museum of Us
- San Diego History Center
- San Diego Natural History Museum
- Veterans Museum & Memorial Center
- San Diego Automotive Museum
- The Marston House
Contemporary art museums
Multicultural organizations
More Balboa Park museums
The month of February is San Diego Museum Month. Most museums (70+ locations throughout the county) are offering 50% off admission with a Museum Month pass, which you can download from the Museum Council website here or pick up free at any local library.
Watch an IMAX Documentary at the Fleet Science Center
What to Know
- Location: 1875 El Prado, San Diego, CA 92101
- Hours: Daily, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Cost: Adult admission - $24.95; Child admission $19.95; Senior admission $22.95
Stare up into something awe-inspiring (without getting rain in your eyes) at the Heikoff Giant Dome Theater at Balboa Park's Fleet Science Center!
The theater has been showing "Deep Sky," a film made of images captured by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to the IMAX screen. See impossible cosmic landscapes, recently-discovered exoplanets and planets around other stars.
This IMAX theater is unlike those of your regular local theaters in that it's curved like a giant dome, transcending your viewing experience.
Watch the trailer for "Deep Sky" here.
Purchase tickets here.
The New Children's Museum
Need a place to help the kids burn off energy and stay indoors? The New Children's Museum located in downtown San Diego is a wonderland of colorful and interactive exhibits that seek to educate while entertain.
One exhibit is dubbed, "Teatro Piñata," in which kids can immerse themselves in a dream-like traveling caravan theater, or "Wobbleland," where toddlers can get active and play with giant food sculptures (anyone like melon?).
A host of free workshops, activities and events are available at this museum like their Cozy Creature Creations Workshops (free), clay and paint studios, "drop-in" activity spaces, bookshop story times and more.
New Children's Museum program proves ‘The Kids Run This Place'
Go bowling!
After taking a few strike-outs during the past few years, San Diego County still has some long-standing bowling alleys left. Many bowling alleys have food and drink and of course — it's all out of the rain!
Here's where to go:
- Mira Mesa Lanes
- The Gutter at The LaFayette Hotel and Swim Club
- Parkway Bowl
- Tavern+Bowl East Village
- Aztec Lanes
- Sea 'N' Air Bowling Center (on Naval Air Station North Island)
WNDR Museum - San Diego
Smack-dab in the middle of the Gaslamp Quarter, WNDR is an immersive, multi-sensory interactive art and technology experience. Exhibits feature a mesmerizing mix of light, sound and touch.
The museum also holds many events, often including live DJs, live painting and extended hours.
USA Today's 2022 and 2023 Reader Polls voted WNDR Museum one of the country's top ten immersive art experiences.
Learn more here.
