|
This sunny resort town has so many amenities that residents feel like royalty
Bordered by the Pacific Ocean, Glorietta Bay, and San Diego Bay, Coronado is linked to the mainland by the spectacular Coronado Bridge and a narrow strip of land called the Silver Strand. In other words, Coronado is not an island, though with its quiet, charming atmosphere and warm, sunny climate, it often feels like one!
Just 13.5 square miles in size, the sparkling seaside town boasts 28 miles of beaches. Coronado was formerly accessible from downtown San Diego only by ferry. The San Diego-Coronado Bridge was built during the 1960s at a cost of $47.6 million. Completed in 1969, the 2.12-mile-long bridge has an orthotropic design.
The Sea Passage fountainis located by the Community Hall in Glorietta Bay.
The city was named for “Los Coronados”—translated as “The Crowned Ones”—after four martyred brothers of ancient Rome, the anniversary of whose martyrdom was celebrated on the day Coronado was discovered in 1602. Thus, it’s “The Crowned City.”
The city has close to 30,000 full-time residents (including military) and attracts some two million tourists every year. It has one of the lowest crime rates in the county, attributed to the fact that there are only two entrances to the city. Coronado residents are among the most highly educated in San Diego County, which may be why the city hosts so many arts and culture venues and events.
The Lamb’s Players Theater is San Diego’s only year-round professional theater group. The Coronado Playhouse has provided community theater for more than 50 years. Spreckels Park, one of the town’s 18 public parks, is the site of Art-in-the-Park, where local artisans display and sell their works on the first and third Sunday of every month.
"Hotel Del," an Historic Landmark, was opened in 1888
Popular dining and shopping areas include the Ferry Landing Marketplace and Orange Avenue, which is Coronado’s main street. And then, of course, there are all of the shops at the Hotel del Coronado.
Known as “The Del” and the “Hotel Del,” the beachfront luxury hotel is one of the few surviving examples of an American architectural genre: the wooden Victorian beach resort. One of the oldest and largest all-wooden buildings in California, the Hotel del is a National Historic Landmark. When it opened in 1888, it was the largest resort hotel in the world and the first to use electrical lighting. The Del has been featured in numerous movies and books.
The city can be divided into three residential areas. The “Village” includes downtown, the Hotel Del, and the area around it. It’s here you’ll find plenty of palm trees and tile. Golfers love the Village because it’s so close to the 18-hole Coronado Municipal Golf Course. The Glorietta Bay Marina is also nearby.
|
Silver Strand State Beach is a prime location for Kite-surfing.
“Coronado Shores” is the second residential area. It’s a narrow strip of land along the south side of the Silver Strand, close to the Village. High-rise condos are the housing of choice here, and ocean views are spectacular.
The “Coronado Cays” is an exclusive, gated community on the bay side of the Silver Strand. Located four miles south of the Hotel del Coronado and 10 miles southwest of downtown San Diego, the community is built on numerous isles and cays on the San Diego Bay side of the Silver Strand, the narrow strip of land that separates the bay from the Pacific Ocean and connects Coronado with Imperial Beach.
Wide and sandy Silver Strand State Beach is directly across the road from Coronado Cays and accessible via a walkway under the road.
Living in the Coronado Cays means that you can have your boat docked next to your house.
The community consists of 1,201 dwellings—condos, townhomes, patio homes, and single-family homes. Many homeowners have private docks and boat slips extended from their backyards. This is the only community south of Newport Beach to boast such a feature. Most homes also feature views of the spectacular Coronado Bridge, which links Coronado with the city of San Diego.
The first family to buy a lot in the development did so in 1970, and today the Cays is made up of 10 villages, such as Jamaica, Bahama, and the prestigious Green Turtle Cay. Each village has its own unique character, and the entire development has the ambience of a Caribbean resort town. At the center of the development is the prestigious Coronado Cays Yacht Club.
On the bay side of Silver Strand State Beach is the Crown Cove Aquatic Center where children can learn to swim, sail, kayak, and maneuver an outrigger canoe. The center is an off-campus facility of Southwestern College in Chula Vista.
Also at the north end of the Cays is the world-class Loews Coronado Bay Resort, which prides itself on providing a variety of year-round family-friendly activities. In fact, Loews Coronado Bay was named one of the “10 Best Beach Vacations in the U.S. & Caribbean” by Parents magazine in 2010. From the resort, you can also take a romantic hour-long ride through the Cays canals on a genuine 36-foot Venetian gondola. The peaceful and calm waterways and canals also make the Cays an ideal location for rowing.
|