Basic Info
"Named by the Travel Channel as the fourth best beach in the country in 2003 and the third best beach on the 2010 list published by Dr. Beach; this award winning beach was also rated number three by Travelocity.com as one of the country's most romantic beaches. Coronado Island is one of Southern California's most sought-after vacation destinations. Connected to the mainland by a narrow strip of sand called the Silver Strand, the city of Coronado is often referred to as The Island. Coronado, meaning ""the crowned one"" in Spanish, is accessed from the mainland via the stunning and architecturally-unique San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge. In this small beach community, you'll find world class resorts, beautiful beaches and the Coronado Golf Course, an 18-hole course with inviting fairways and immaculate greens.
"
- ResorTime.com
"Although it's actually an isthmus, easily reached from the mainland if you head north from Imperial Beach, Coronado has always seemed like an island and is often referred to as such. Located just 15 mi east of downtown San Diego, Coronado was a small sandbar until the late 1900's and was named after Mexico's Coronados Islands. As if freeze-framed in the 1950s, Coronado's quaint appeal is captured in its old-fashioned storefronts, well-manicured gardens, and charming Ferry Landing Marketplace. Many of today's residents live in grand Victorian homes handed down for generations. Naval Air Station North Island was established in 1911 on Coronado's north end, across from Point Loma, and was the site of Charles Lindbergh's departure on the transcontinental flight that preceded his famous solo flight across the Atlantic. Coronado's long relationship with the U.S. Navy and its desirable real estate have made it an enclave for military personnel; it's said to have more retired admirals per capita than anywhere else in the United States. The streets of Coronado are wide, quiet, and friendly, with lots of neighborhood parks where young families mingle with the area's many senior citizens. Grand old homes face the waterfront and the Coronado Municipal Golf Course, under the bridge at the north end of Glorietta Bay; it's the site of the annual July 4 fireworks display. Community celebrations and concerts take place in Spreckels Park on Orange Avenue. Coronado is accessible via the arching blue 2.2-mi-long San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge, which handles some 68,000 cars each day. The view of the harbor, downtown, and the island is breathtaking, day and night. Until the bridge was completed in 1969, visitors and residents relied on the Coronado Ferry, which today has become quite popular with bicyclists, who shuttle their bikes across the harbor and ride Coronado's wide, flat boulevards for hours. San Diego's Metropolitan Transit System runs a shuttle bus, No. 904, around Coronado; you can pick it up where you disembark the ferry and ride it out as far as Silver Strand State Beach. Buses start leaving from the ferry landing at 10:30 AM and run once an hour on the half hour until 6:30 PM. Bus No. 901 runs daily between the Gaslamp Quarter and Coronado.
"
- www.fodors.com
