15 MOST Common San Diego Tourist Mistakes (And How To Avoid Them!)

what are 15 common tourist mistakes that people make when visiting san diego find out next on jaycation [Music] hey what's up jaycationers welcome back to another video here in the san diego series that's right we're back in my hometown and i'm going to give you 15 common tourist mistakes that people make when visiting san diego there are a ton of them so stick till the end the first common mistake that tourists make when visiting san diego would be not leaving downtown san diego now if it's your first time here chances are you're probably going to be staying here in downtown either at the manchester grand hyatt the marriott marquis over on the marina or a hotel around the gaslamp quarter now you're going to be like during the weekdays wow this place is boring kind of run down there are a few homeless people around here and you're just not going to like it as much and if you don't leave downtown san diego and experience la jolla go up to carlsbad check out julian go to the zoo balboa park you're going to get bored here make sure you're leaving downtown san diego and the hotel that you're staying at you also want to check out coronado just across the bridge the next common mistake why don't we do this while we're going through his car wash right now is not renting a car if you're not already driving into san diego you're going to want to rent a car over at the rent-a-car center that is right next to the airport it's a huge parking garage with all the different rental companies sd crews and rentals they're actually over in la jolla i prefer them because you can ride around san diego in luxury life will be that much easier i know you got to pay for parking in downtown and all that stuff but just to get around to like east county north county the beaches you're going to want to drive so a common tourist mistake is people thinking that public transportation will suffice when it doesn't so rent a car also if you think that you could get around with uber and lyft those rides are anywhere from 10 to 30 dollars depending on where you're going and if you're here within like a five to seven day trip that's gonna add up and that's gonna cost you way more than if you just rented a car right behind me is petco park home of my san diego padres and the next common mistake we're gonna talk about is tourists assuming that the beach is near downtown now it is kinda sorta but not really you're gonna get san diego bay views here in downtown but you're not gonna get the beach the closest beach you can get to from here i believe would be coronado and then ocean beach those are both about 10 15 minutes of a drive if you want to go to coronado you can take the ferry over from the ferry you still got to go over to the hotel del which takes a little more time and it's almost like a little short uber or bike ride over that way if you're staying in downtown make sure you plan accordingly if you want to get to the beach you're going to get a small beach over on the other side near peoes they have like a little man-made beach off the bay but that's not really it's not the true san diego beaches the next common mistake made here in san diego are tourists wanting to go to the border but not crossing the border you get over to san ysidro and you see the los americas outlets and it is a beautiful outlet center but it's just like any other premium outlet center in america you just see the wall across the parking lot now if you're gonna go to tijuana you might as well just go to tijuana so bring your passport maybe if you know somebody that knows their way around tj they can show you around the tacos el gordo or the other taco spots there that are not as popular i don't really know much because i haven't gone to tijuana in years you'll be slightly disappointed if you just go to the final u.s exit cross the border bring your passport go there during the day and enjoy a nice day over there and then come back across and enjoy the rest of your trip here in san diego if you guys are finding value in this video so far please give it a thumbs up it really helps distribute it throughout youtube if you're just discovering me please consider subscribing i have a ton of san diego las vegas and world content now back to the video for common mistakes that tourists make in san diego another common mistake that tourists make when they're visiting san diego for the first time is not visiting the north county area of san diego you have oceanside in the northwest and you have fallbrook both really nice spots to check out you can go to the oceanside pier and there's a lot of great eateries over there and then over in fallbrook you get a nice older feel from there you hit temecula which is not san diego county anymore but that is considered socal's wine country definitely want to check out north county there are tons of places you have carlsbad encinitas safari park is over in escondido area there's so many things to enjoy in north county and i have plenty of videos like my north county hidden gems video i'll link it down below another common mistake would be coming here on a holiday weekend whether it's memorial day the 4th of july or comic-con weekend that's when hotel rates are at its highest plane fares over here are at its highest and there's just way too many people around town you like having a crowd around you and just feeling the energy of people moving around san diego then come over here especially memorial weekend and comic con weekend if you do plan on coming on these busy weekends make sure you book your reservations a year or two in advance because hotel rates are astronomical don't come here on holiday weekends if you're looking for some rest and relaxation and maybe to save a little bit of money that's pretty cool elton john's gonna have his farewell yellow brick road tour here in november the next common mistake that tourists make is not headed east of san diego over in the east side of san diego you got the mountains and you got lake cuyamaca you got the cleveland national forest you have julian and borrego springs desert and a bunch of beautiful naturey scenic spots that you can enjoy that is outside of the city within san diego county limits now i just drove east going to arizona a couple of weeks ago and i'm telling you that area is really nice you want to go check out alcatel wells that's where the casinos are viejas casinos over there make your way east that's why you got to rent a car next on the list is simple doing too much in just one day a lot of people think that they could come to san diego for one or two days and pack everything in but that is definitely not the case this is a relaxed beach town very casual we like to take things slow here it's not the fast nine to five kind of life like we have up in la san diego is a lot more relaxed we wear flip-flops shorts padre jerseys to the beach and just hang out and like to have happy hours and make a day of just doing nothing if you're coming to san diego don't do too much in one day spend a week here and one of those days just plan nothing just enjoy the perfect san diego weather you'll thank me you pack too much into an itinerary you're gonna be like wow i think i did too much i didn't enjoy myself next on the common mistakes list would be not trying a local mexican food taco shop there are so many mexican food taco shop locations all around san diego and it can be highly debated what's your best california burrito what's your best taco now you have your tacos el gordo right down the street over here in barrio logan you got las cuatros milpas you also have your rigobertos robertos cotija and sayulitas i'm telling you i can go on for days and i have a whole series of videos that are devoted to mexican food around san diego check that out after this you will be remissed if you came to san diego and didn't try a california burrito or carne asada fries or anything else from these mexican food spots i'm telling you it's as good as you'll get to mexico because we're literally 30 minutes from the border right now and believe me you'll go to tacos el gordo las cuatros melpas and you'll be a happy camper so rumor has it in san diego that it's sunny and 75 degrees all the time so people just come here with shorts flip-flops and as you should but in the morning i always say that it's cold within the shadows so in the mornings it does get around anywhere from 40 to 60 degrees and in the shadows is even cooler or when you're indoors so i suggest bringing a nice little hoodie so you can stay warm and wear this until you go out into the sun but when you do go out in the sun you're going to want to protect your eyes from the uv rays of the sun so bring some sunglasses a hat and if you know you're sensitive to the sun even more you're going to want to bring one of these hats as well one of these sun hats especially if you're at the beach protect your skin use sunblock like i said in the beach tip as well and then at night when it gets cooler you're going to want to put a hoodie like this on believe me it does get a little chilly once the sun sets can dip to between 50 and 60 degrees layer up when you're coming to san diego because in the mornings and at night it gets a little more chilly many tourists that visit town for the first time are really worried about buying tickets to the san diego zoo or buying tickets to sea world or getting into the hottest club in the gaslamp quarter and you're paying nothing but dollars and cents just to get into these places now the most common mistake that people tend not to do here is take advantage of all the free things to do in san diego now you can go to balboa park and not have to pay for any of the museums you can just take a nice little stroll around go to the organ pavilion check out all the beautiful scenery around the museums you don't have to go inside you can just enjoy a nice sunny day and a nice walk around there here in the embarcadero i see people out here sunbathing and seeing people just walking around this beautiful stretch in the san diego bay and you got rady shell over across the way there's a park you can play basketball and just have a nice picnic a lot of free things to do here go on a hike go to potato chip rock spend the day over there the next common tourist mistakes that happened in san diego is if you're spending a day at the beach a lot of people coming from the midwest aren't going to bring their shorts or their flip-flops or their sunblock and their sunglasses or an umbrella i'm telling you make sure you pick those up before you come here or look for a walmart and grab all that gear but don't go to the beach without your sunblock you're gonna burn also for those of y'alls that like to have a few beers a lot of the beaches here you can't drink now if you're gonna day drink around pacific beach and have a few beers or cocktails around places like lahainas pb turf club places like that make sure you're drinking waters gatorades and staying hydrated because i'm telling you that day drunk feel in when you're out on the golf course and you're just chugging coronas and not even drinking water and you're dehydrated that's sloppy drunkness it's not a good look and there are one too many people that come from other parts of the country that end up that way because they're not hydrating themselves a lot of people coming to party here in san diego will be surprised that we don't keep the normal party hours like they do in las vegas or in miami here in san diego clubs close around two o'clock last calls at 1 20 and over at the breweries they closed down even earlier sometimes as early as nine ten o'clock you're going to come to san diego try coming out and partying earlier on in the evening don't go out at 11 o'clock 12 o'clock at night and think you're gonna get a full night of raging and partying in because all these places start closing down around two o'clock especially here in the gaslamp quarter next time you're in san diego go out around nine that's nine ten o'clock is the perfect time to go out and party and plus san diego is more like a party throughout the day type of town you're going to want to go to the beach during the day check out the malls hop over to the breweries hop over to the bars later on at night one of the biggest common tourist mistakes is not knowing that san diego is one of the most popular spots and destinations for happy hour there are tons of happy hour spots here in san diego especially here in the gaslamp district and i've listed a few in my best happy hour food video which i'll link down below as well you can check that out after this you got places like puesto la puerta they have really cheap happy hour deals as well as breweries where they have you know a dollar or two off of pints margarita specials over at puesto over at headquarters now here's a little tip if you want to save some money have an early dinner and make your dinner happy hour and you'll save yourself some cash go get the flautas over at miguel's go get some of the drink specials at taste and thirst it'll be a lot easier on your wallet and san diegoans us local so we love the happy hour specials all around town and there's a website that lists all the happy hours around san diego and i'll make sure i put that down in the description box below the next common tourist mistakes is buying food over at amusement parks like sea world at san diego zoo safari park legoland there's so many great eateries here in san diego a lot of great breakfast spots like breakfast republic you've got the original house of gogo here and there's so many other place like snooze eatery you're gonna want to have a nice healthy breakfast before you hit these parks if anything pack some snacks throughout the day have a light lunch over at the parks and then get a nice reservation over in little italy or head over to north park or south park to bueno forqueta or one of the many restaurants that i've done in my san diego series of videos you don't want to miss out on meals here in san diego and if you're going to the zoo and just having a hot dog or having a sandwich over at one of the normal concession stands you're just going to be wasting money and not enjoying the culinary scene here in san diego so that will do it here in san diego for your common mistakes that tourists make when visiting america's finest city now if i missed out on a few mistakes and didn't mention something that you may know of please comment down below it really helps out the community of san diego lovers and tourists that are coming to town if you guys like this video i'd really appreciate if you give it a thumbs up it helps distribute it throughout youtube consider subscribing as a ton more san diego content and a whole library already on my youtube channel we're trying to get to 100 000 subscribers guys we're going to get there so tell your friends family dogs and cats to subscribe to jaycation and if you want to support me even more in 2022 i have a patreon paypal and teespring down below if you want to join my facebook group called it's always sunny in san diego we have 6 000 plus members of san diego lovers talking about the latest news tips and recommendations around town all right jaycationers if you have any ideas on future vacation videos please comment down below and we'll see you in the next video and in the words of me stay traveling san i can't diego you [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: Jaycation

Views: 120,859

Keywords: san diego, san diego travel, tourist traps, san diego travel tips, things to do in san diego, jaycation san diego, san diego tips, san diego travel guide, san diego 2022, san diego mistakes, travel, san diego trip, travel guide, america's finest city, travel san diego, san diego vlog, cheap san diego, san diego reopening, san diego california, jaycation, downtown san diego, local san diego, san diego blog, what to do in san diego, san diego guide, san diego vacation, scams

Id: 7r2ZfxTvsPI

Length: 14min 41sec (881 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 09 2022