Mission Bay Park

Mission Bay Park is San Diego's big protected water playground, a man-made bay of more than 4,200 acres that is roughly half water and half parkland. It was dredged and filled out of tidal marsh between the 1940s and 1960s and is owned and managed by the City of San Diego. Boaters use it for everything from paddleboards and Hobie Cats to ski boats, personal watercraft, small cruisers and sportfishing charters, and it is one of the most popular trailer-boat destinations in Southern California.

Layout and getting in

The bay opens to the Pacific through a dredged entrance channel between two jetties, with a fixed highway bridge about 1.3 miles inside. Quivira Basin and Dana Landing sit right beside the channel, while Fiesta Bay, Sail Bay, Mariners Basin and the islands (Vacation Isle and Fiesta Island) fill the rest of the bay. Older Coast Pilot text warns that large swells from almost any direction can break right across the entrance, and that tidal flow in the channel can run very strong at times. Check the surf and the tide before running in or out.

Speed zones

The city posts four kinds of area: swimming, 5 mph, open speed and special use. From sunset to sunrise the whole bay is limited to 5 mph. In daylight, 5 mph applies within 100 feet of shore (Fiesta Island included), within 200 feet of docks and floats, under bridges and wherever buoys mark it, and marina areas are steerage-way, no wake. Fiesta Bay, the eastern half of the bay, is the only area with no daytime speed limit. Sail Bay is 5 mph from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., May 1 through October 31.

Water ski and PWC areas

Water skiing is allowed only in marked take-off and landing zones, mainly in Fiesta Bay, and Sail Bay in set hours (sunrise to 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. to sunset from May to October, sunrise to sunset the rest of the year). Personal watercraft have designated areas, including the south end of North Pacific Passage, which uses a permit system on weekdays in summer and daily in winter. Permits come from San Diego Lifeguard Services.

Anchoring, ramps and marinas

Overnight anchoring is allowed only in Mariners Basin, for up to 72 hours. The City runs public ramps at Ski Beach, De Anza Cove, South Shores, Dana Landing and Santa Clara Point. Slips and services cluster in Quivira Basin and at Dana Landing, and Mission Bay Yacht Club has been on the west side of the bay since 1927. Lifeguard Services, based at 2581 Quivira Court, handles on-water safety and permits.