Activities for all ages, San Diego is a playground for children and their families. There are too many things to do to be bored both indoors and outdoors. Football, soccer, baseball and basketball, all have teams in the city. There are beaches for family outings, and older children and teenagers have their choice of many museums.
Sea World is a mix of different kinds of aquariums, thrilling rides and shows. Visitors can interact with beluga and orca whales and dolphins. Dolphins and sea lions entertain the crowds with their tricks. Other shows include the Cirque de la Mer, a show on the water with acrobatics and music. Sesame Street characters please children, and there are exhibits of sharks, octopus and jellyfish. Some aquariums showcase marine animals from across the world. A typical California tide pool is also recreated. Rides at Sea World include a cable car, water rides and rollercoasters.
Sea World
500 Sea World Drive
San Diego, CA 92109
800-257-4268
seaworldsandiego.com
San Diego's Legoland Water Park is the only such park in the world. The park brings together a love of the famous children's construction toy and water rides, including seven slides, tube rides and a family raft slide for four passengers. Younger children have their own play area in the Duplo Village, where the theme is African animals, and in Playtown offers slides and activities for the whole family. Other areas have themes, such as dinosaurs, pirates, knights and castles. Miniland USA reproduces seven American areas with 20-million Lego bricks.
Legoland Water Park
1 Legoland Drive
Carlsbad, CA 92008
760-918-5346
california.legoland.com
The Reuben H. Fleet Science Center is a hands-on museum where children can learn through doing. Different aspects of science and technology are presented through exhibits and activities, as children learn about engineering, how to design buildings and bridges and how to generate electricity. They will also study weather by learning about tornadoes, and old inhabitants of the earth by looking at dinosaurs. Outer space exploration is explained through the latest images sent by the Hubble Space Telescope and space missions. The center has an IMAX dome theater--the only one in Southern California--showing films and planetarium shows.
Reuben H. Fleet Science Center
1875 El Prado
San Diego, CA 92101
619-238-1233
rhfleet.org
The San Diego Zoo has a collection that includes elephants, polar bears, apes, lions and even butterflies in their natural habitats. However, it is the panda population that makes the San Diego Zoo widely-known internationally. Four giant pandas reside at the zoo--an animal that has long been on the endangered species list. The zoo has bred the panda in captivity, with the latest one born in 2005 named, Su Lin.
San Diego Zoo
2920 Zoo Drive
San Diego, CA 92101
619-234-3153
sandiegozoo.org
