Things To Do in Pacifica

The ClubHouse Training Schools help aspiring baseball players reach new athletic peaks under the tuition of seasoned coaches and MLB scouts. Well versed in the arts of hitting, pitching, and yelling for bags of peanuts, the instructors hone players' skills in a 17,000-square-foot training facility, which facilitates year-round practice with indoor batting cages and a full on-site gym with free weights and stationary bikes. A regimen of fitness and performance training helps athletes stay in shape on and off the field—sure to be an asset during the ClubHouse's fall high-school baseball league, when students put their skills to the test by pitching crumpled math homework.

The next time you're on the roof of a five-story building, look down at the ground, and you'll get a rough idea of just how high people climb at Touchstone Climbing. The gym's seven locations feature lead walls that rise as high as 50 feet off the ground, though height isn't the only dimension that makes the space feel immense. Each spot has at least 11,000 square feet of climbing terrain, not to mention as much as 3,000 square feet of bouldering.

To prevent newcomers from feeling intimidated by the magnitude of the environment, the gym holds introductory classes. During these sessions, participants learn the basic techniques they'll need if they want to conquer the gym's crack systems and boulder problems. The classes are also an opportunity for students to scope out the terrain features at each location, such as Diablo Rock Gym's steep prow, which juts out crookedly like a thumbs up from a dizzy ballerina. While they're at it, the visitors might notice something else: the social nature of the gym. As the San Francisco Chronicle recounts, the fact that lead climbs require two people means that climbers are constantly asking around for new partners and chatting back and forth as they ascend.

Each location also boasts a weight room, cardio machines, and a studio space for everything from yoga to spinning to core classes.

Each winter, professional surfers migrate to Half Moon Bay to try their luck at riding the massive waves of the Mavericks area. During the competition, the coastline waters are dotted with bobbing surfers and spectator boats. For an up-close look at the waves, Bait & Switch Sportfishing, a bait shop located on nearby Pillar Point Harbor, transports guests on one of six vessels ranging between 29 and 56 feet. Staff captains organize boat tours to watch the surfing, snap photos of jumping humpback whales, or fish for salmon and rockfish. They also schedule walking tours of Half Moon Bay’s wetlands, which are home to more than 200 species of birds and at least 10 airborne crossing guards.

Captain Josh Waldman has steered vessels over more than 35,000 miles of international ocean, but as the head of Captain San Francisco, he sticks to the homier waters of San Francisco Bay and coastal California. In luxurious sailing yachts outfitted with bunks and lounge areas, he leads chartered voyages for special events, private parties, and whales too lazy to swim their daily commute. The multitalented captain keeps his yacht in tip-top condition with his own maintenance expertise and can converse with both Spanish- and English-speaking customers.

At KN Fitness & Tennis for All Ages, Kevin Nguyen lives up to his company’s billing by training students to become better, fitter tennis players, regardless of age or ability. His training regimen begins with entry-level basics, such as ball striking and fundamental mechanics, and advances to tournament-level skills such as drop shots, serves, and proper footwork for when you realize your opponent tied your shoelaces together. Because players can’t reach the peak of their ability through mechanics alone, he complements skills practice with rigorous physical exercise to build lean muscle and strengthen the body's core.

Traditionally, the zoo provides the comfort of seeing animals that could not make a surprise visit to your backyard; this is a comfort CuriOdyssey dispatches to give weight to its message of science education. The menagerie of nearly 100 mammals, amphibians, reptiles, and birds primarily showcases local species like the Channel Island fox and the red-shouldered hawk, which have relatively small niches that have been squeezed by environmental degradation and human encroachment. Native species can be glimpsed within a complex of 25 lush habitats, including a 4,000-square-foot walk-through aviary and a replica of the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Sunny, outdoor gardens fill more than 1.3 acres with plots that rotate with the seasons and plants to attract butterflies and hummingbirds for live study. Among the science exhibits, Forces explores fundamental forces in nature such as gravity and magnetism. All the exhibits are designed to enable close observation and experimentation characteristic of the scientific method. This aim is supported by shows, such as daily otter feedings—spied from behind the glass of a cross-sectioned riverbank—and a variety of classes.

Archers Joesph and Beth Snell opened Pacifica Archery as an all-purpose shop for shooters of any age. Now, the pairs stays busy supervising 15 lanes, scheduling lessons for various skill levels, and hosting league events. The Snells rent out equipment for visitors to use on the 20- and 10-yard lanes, whether they are students attending a seminar or competitors honing their form. The Snells cater to young enthusiasts with Junior Olympic archery-development programs, which instruct 8- to 18-year-olds on the finer points of arrow-launching. The onsite pro shop furnishes patrons with long, recurve, and compound bows as well as shooting accessories. Channeling their own hunting expertise, the Snells stock camouflage gear and decoys in the shape of common game, including elk, turkey, and dartboards that have escaped from dive bars.