A Walk Along the Embarcadero on San Diego Bay

Along the Embarcadero

The Embarcadero is the harbor front on the eastern shore of San Diego Bay, and the Spanish word means boarding place. You will find it downtown in San Diego's Columbia district. One way covers about one and a half miles and takes an hour or more, depending on how long you stop.

San Diego Bay

San Diego Bay is a natural harbor, 12 miles long and 1 to 3 miles wide. Third largest of California's three large protected natural bays, it follows San Francisco Bay and Humboldt Bay. Spain began colonizing the bay in 1769. At the south end, landfill beneath a waterfront complex covers Punta de los Muertos. The Spanish name means Point of the Dead, and the site later was a railroad yard.

Broadway Pier

Broadway Pier was built in 1913 and is 800 feet long, the first reinforced concrete pier San Diego put on the bay. The first cruise ship terminal was added in 1970. Architect Donald Innis remodeled it in the 1970s so a person looking down Broadway could keep the bay in sight. Planter boxes held trees, with foliage set over the water. Your view from the pier crosses to Point Loma, a residential peninsula. The downtown skyline is to the east, and the cruise ship terminal is to the north.

The Port Pavilion

Architect Saul Suarez designed the 52,000 square foot Port Pavilion on Broadway Pier, completed in December 2010. Its corrugated metal skin uses two hues, and colors change with viewer movement and with the sun, imitating sunlight on water. The pier below was almost 100 years old, so underpinning helps the pilings absorb earthquake movement. When the B Street Cruise Ship Terminal has two ships and one more needs berth space, the Pavilion serves as the terminal. Broadway Plaza, by the pier and the Pavilion, holds arbors and a view deck, with public art toward San Diego Bay.

North Embarcadero

The waterfront project on the North Embarcadero reached completion of its first phase in November 2014. A public esplanade 105 feet wide was created, holding formal gardens and landscaped plazas. Shade pavilions and a waterfront promenade 30 feet wide joined them. After more than 20 public workshops, the design added almost 12 acres, in park and in open space.

South Embarcadero Esplanade

The South Embarcadero Esplanade connects Embarcadero Marina Park North with Embarcadero Marina Park South. This linear park carries public art along the route.

Star of India

Star of India, an iron hulled sailing ship, was built in 1863 at Ramsey, Isle of Man, as full rigged Euterpe. Before San Diego she took emigrants from England to New Zealand and Australia, on 27 trips around the globe. Salmon moved with her out of Alaska and on to the West Coast from 1902 to 1923.

Museum Ships

Star of India is the oldest ship sailing regularly, and the oldest iron hulled merchant ship afloat. She is a California Historical Landmark. She is a National Historic Landmark as well. Established in 1948, the Maritime Museum of San Diego preserves one of the largest historic sea vessel collections in the US. The fleet holds Berkeley, an 1898 ferryboat, and Medea, a 1904 steam yacht. A full size San Salvador replica, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo's flagship, launched in 2015 and is stationed at the Embarcadero.

Midway was the longest serving American aircraft carrier in the 20th century. Service ran from 1945 to 1992, and on June 7, 2004 she opened as a museum at Navy Pier.

Tuna Harbor

Tuna Harbor Park is named for the commercial fishing industry in San Diego and for tuna port history. Shaded areas, a scenic promenade and boat views on the bay come with the park. You may see commercial fishermen offloading a catch that can include swordfish, rock cod and shark. Tuna Harbor is the center for San Diego's commercial fishermen. You may see slips for bait boats and gillnetters on inward pier sides, and you may see tuna seiners on the outermost pier where it faces the bay, a side large enough for them. Descendants of Portuguese immigrants founded the industry in 1911 and built the fleet San Diego once housed, the world's largest, which reached about 200 boats during the 1970s.

Marina Park South

Basketball courts and exercise stations sit at Embarcadero Marina Park South. A fishing pier, a gazebo, picnic tables and benches line San Diego Bay there. The spacious open lawn is the site of concerts and festivals such as Symphony Summer Pops.

Ruocco Park

Ruocco Park, at 3.3 acres, overlooks San Diego Bay plus the downtown skyline. Local artist Roman de Salvo designed The Riparium, a gateway sculpture made from eucalyptus branches. You can walk beneath the moving shadows, with ample grass beside the bay.

Marina Park North

Embarcadero Marina Park North is an 8.5 acre waterfront park. Open green space and waterfront promenades pair with panoramic views of San Diego Bay. Shade, bike paths and racks, a gazebo, picnic tables and public art are on the grounds.