Things to Do in San Diego

Chula Vista Nature Center provides guests with dozens of ways to encounter the birds, marine life, and other organisms that call the refuge home. Visitors can pet gentle rays or admire preening sea turtles before visiting the underwater discovery center to spy on majestic sea horses, spotted octopi, and exploding ants. Outside, 1.5 miles of walking trails lead out to the shore of San Diego Bay, offering convenient stops at native-plant gardens, Raptor Row, Eagle Mesa (home to majestic bald and golden eagles), and a shorebird aviary. Among the many native water birds and shorebirds housed by the aviary are light-footed clapper rails, one of California's most endangered bird species.

Although Belmont Park has changed shape and modernized since opening in the 1920s, surviving vintage attractions such as the Giant Dipper roller coaster and the Plunge swimming pool stand as fun reminders of the park's family-friendly roots. Additionally, patrons can practice their security-evasion skills in the Vault Laser Maze Challenge or navigate the high-swinging Sky Ropes Adventure. While resting tired climbing muscles, guests can interface with a few electronic fun-creators with Belmont Park–arcade tokens. Players can thrash a button-festooned ax on Guitar Hero, or earn a cache of tickets from a plethora of play-to-win games to purchase sugary treats or noise-making trinkets. Once adrenaline glands have been depleted, visitors can indulge in the park's numerous additional amenities, such as dining areas, beach-themed shops, and a full-service athletic club.

Mira Mesa Lanes encourages players to test their underhand accuracy and on-key singing voice with ample alley space and an on-site karaoke bar. The alley hosts open-bowling hours throughout the week, along with league opportunities for men, women, male children, female children, and grandparents. After open sessions on Friday and Saturday evenings, Mira Mesa Lanes also enlivens its space with the music and flashing lights of Rock 'n' Bowl. And once the last frame finishes, the alley keeps the fun rolling with an arcade, café, and full-service bar.

Equinox Laser Tag is helmed by a team of laser-tag aficionados who have been playing since the sport's inception in the mid-80s. In their 7,000-square-foot indoor arena, they let visitors choose from a wide range of scenarios to play games of capture-the-flag, humans vs. zombies, or kittens vs. laser pointers among a variety of inflatable obstacles. Their facility also features outdoor battlefields where players can raid a mobile laser-tag trailer, equipped with enough barricades and infrared taggers to create a tactically challenging combat zone that suits up to 20 combatants.