Planning a family trip to California can feel overwhelming, especially when trying to balance beaches, attractions, relaxation, and affordability all in one vacation. During the first week of August, my family and I decided to spend 6 days exploring San Diego and Oceanside, California, and honestly, it ended up becoming one of our favorite family vacations ever.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!We wanted a mix of kid-friendly attractions and relaxing beach days without staying in the middle of a busy city. Since my son really wanted to visit both SeaWorld San Diego and Sesame Place San Diego, Oceanside ended up becoming the perfect home base for our trip.
One thing that helped us save money was purchasing the Two-Day, Two Park Ticket bundle directly from the Sesame Place San Diego website, which included both SeaWorld and Sesame Place admission while saving up to 50%.
At first, I was honestly hesitating between staying in downtown San Diego or somewhere closer to the ocean. While most attractions were closer to the city, I really wanted that calm beach vacation vibe instead of busy city life. After doing a lot of research, we decided to stay at Mission Pacific Beach Resort by JDV Hyatt, and it ended up being the perfect choice for our family vacation.
Day 1 — Visit SeaWorld San Diego
Our flight arrived around 8am, and since hotel check-in wasn’t until later in the afternoon, we decided to head straight to SeaWorld San Diego.
We arrived around 10:30am on a Sunday, and surprisingly parking was very easy with almost no lineup. We spent the day attending the famous orca show, exploring the aquarium exhibits, enjoying the interactive experiences, and letting my son enjoy the kid-friendly rides.
By around 4pm, we finished our day at SeaWorld, grabbed a bite to eat, and started driving toward Oceanside. We checked into our hotel around 6:30pm, and honestly after a long travel day, ending the evening by the ocean already made the trip feel relaxing.
Day 2 — Walk Along Oceanside Pier & Explore Oceanside
On our second day, we decided to fully explore Oceanside and enjoy a slower beach day.
One of my favorite things about staying at Mission Pacific Beach Resort was that it’s connected to its sister property, The Seabird Ocean Resort & Spa. Guests from both hotels can enjoy the pools and shared common areas. We especially preferred the kids’ pool at The Seabird because it felt more family-friendly and wasn’t too deep for little kids.
The hotel itself is also popular because the famous Top Gun House is located nearby. We loved stopping there for tea time and trying the fresh mini pies, which were always served warm.
For breakfast, we tried Piper restaurant at The Seabird, but honestly we preferred the breakfast options at our own hotel because the menu felt more kid-friendly with cute pancakes and babyccinos.
Another thing we loved was how both hotels offered complimentary beach chairs and towels for guests. The beach itself was beautiful for long walks and relaxing near the pier, although the waves could sometimes feel a little strong for younger kids.
One of my favorite moments of the entire trip was walking by Oceanside Pier early in the morning and during sunset. The views were absolutely beautiful and gave the perfect Southern California beach atmosphere.
If you visit Oceanside, I highly recommend trying:
- Parlor Doughnuts for delicious doughnuts
- Odie’s Pizza Co. for wood-fired pizza
We also loved that there were many affordable souvenir shops near the hotel, and prices were much better compared to airport shops.
Day 3 — Sesame Place San Diego & Seaport Village
Day 3 was dedicated to Sesame Place San Diego, and honestly it was such a fun family day.
Our favorite parts were definitely:
- the lazy river
- the wave pool
- the splash pad areas
- the kid-friendly rides
It’s a great place to spend the entire day with younger children. There are also food options available inside the park if you want to stay for lunch.
After enjoying the water park, we decided to spend the evening exploring San Diego itself. We drove across the beautiful Coronado Bridge and later enjoyed a relaxing evening walk around Seaport Village before heading back to Oceanside for the night.
Day 4 — Spend Half a Day at Coronado Beach
On Day 4, we spent half the day relaxing at Coronado Beach.
This ended up being one of our favorite beaches for kids because:
- the water felt calmer
- the sand was soft
- the atmosphere was peaceful and family-friendly
It felt like the perfect beach for families wanting a more relaxing beach experience compared to rougher waves in other areas.
Later that afternoon, we headed back to Oceanside and spent another relaxing evening walking by the pier and stopping at the Top Gun coffee shop for tea time.
Day 5 — Laguna Beach Day Trip
On Day 5, we decided to drive north toward Laguna Beach.
Although I personally didn’t feel the beach was ideal for swimming because the waves felt strong and a little intimidating, the city itself was absolutely beautiful. The area had so many seafood restaurants, scenic coastal views, and a lovely atmosphere for walking around and exploring.
We stayed there until the evening before driving back toward Oceanside for dinner.
Day 6 — Heading Home
On our last day, we returned our rental car at the airport and took the shuttle back for our flight home.
Overall, our San Diego and Oceanside family trip ended up becoming one of our favorite California vacations because it had the perfect mix of beaches, attractions, relaxing walks, and family-friendly activities for all ages.
If you’re planning a Southern California family vacation and looking for the best things to do in San Diego and Oceanside with kids, I honestly think Oceanside makes an amazing home base.
Family Travel Essentials
Before our trip, I packed several summer travel essentials that made traveling with kids much easier. I’ll also be linking our favorite family travel finds, beach must-haves, and our SeaWorld and Sesame Place YouTube videos from the trip below! Amazon Link