Mission Beach, the beach west of downtown San Diego with the seaside Belmont Park roller coaster, offers fire pits and seaside and bayside picnic areas. Whichever beach you choose, follow the rules, which you can find posted at lifeguard stands, at beach parking lots and online. No glass containers are allowed at San Diego beaches and surrounding parks, and don’t allow the flames from the wood, charcoal or paper you pile into a fire pit exceed 12 inches in height. Fire rounds can’t be used between midnight and 5 a.m. on San Diego beaches.
Trendy Pacific Beach borders Mission Beach’s northern edges, and can be San Diego’s busiest during summer months. Since fire pits at Pacific Beach and other San Diego beaches are first-come, first-serve, some local barbecue fans keep a backup stand-up hibachi grill in the car trunk, or scout out a picnic area before daylight on summer weekends. Building fires directly on the sand is prohibited.
Just north of Pacific Beach, in La Jolla, the best place to barbecue at La Jolla Cove is not the beach, but the spacious picnic areas above the water. La Jolla Shores has fire pits. North of La Jolla, you won’t find any fire pits at Del Mar beaches, but you can bring a small barbecue grill and use charcoal only. At Oceanside, north of San Diego, flames can reach up to 2 feet in height in fire pits, but fire pits close from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. Otherwise, elevated grills are allowed.
On Coronado Island, accessible by bridge or ferry from San Diego, fire rings and areas for barbecue grills are located at the northern end of Coronado Central Beach and at Glorietta Bay Beach. Coronado Beach barbecue rules mirror those of San Diego. The site of the annual U.S. Open Sand Castle Building Contest, Imperial Beach offers fire pits on the beach and seaside picnic areas off the beach where the pier meets the sand.
On Coronado Island, Silver Strand State Beach has fire rings and picnic areas for barbecue grills. Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, a day-use beach north of Pacific Beach, has no permanent grills or fire pits, but you can bring your own stand-up barbecue grill. North of San Diego, South Carlsbad State Beach has campgrounds where you can erect a stand-up grill. Moonlight State Beach in Encinitas also has fire rings.
