The sunsets and beaches of Coronado Island!

January 7, 2019 by nikirath 11 Comments

Coronado island is a small coastal town with very rich culture and history. The pristine beaches and dramatic sunsets of the island are extra ordinary and stand out in various ways. It offers a small town atmosphere with old mansion villas, boutique shops and market. In the heart of Coronado stands the historic hotel Del Coronado which is a must visit. The serene island is just 2 miles from the hustle and bustle of Downtown San Diego. The bridge that connects the two has spectacular harbor views.

The two things that I enjoyed the most in the island was the surreal sunsets and the late morning beach combing. We stayed at Loews Coronado Bay resort which was at a walking distance from Silver Strand State beach. The hotel staff was very prompt with their golfs cart transportation to the beach and offered us towels as well as beach chairs. The sunset hues were just phenomenal. We spent lot of time there just enjoying the sunset and taking photo breaks in between. The colorful rays of the sun reflected back gorgeously through the crashing waves. It was such a joyful moment and I am happy we were able to capture it.

Sunset at the Silver Strand State beach

The best part about the beach was the fact that it was little farther out from the main area of the island. The white sand was covered with different kinds of shells which made it a great spot for beach combing. My favorite pick was the sand dollars which are species of extremely flattened, burrowing sea urchins belonging to the order Clypeasteroida. It is very important to make sure that the sea urchins are not alive while we pick them. Since they already lost their purple color and tiny spines, I could confirm the ones that I picked were actually from dead sea urchins. Picking these shells was such an enjoyable experience that I went to the beach two days in a row. The key is shells can be picked only during low tides when high tides have already done their job of bringing the shells to the beach. I would recommend the best time for collecting these shells would be late morning during low tides. I personally could spend hours and hours doing this but we had such limited time. The sand dollars are so fragile and need extreme care during travel so they don’t crack.

Old Fort Mansions

San Dollars

Overall, Coronado island offered us a lovely vacation and I brought back handpicked souvenir shells which I now use for home decor. Is there an activity you particularly enjoy during your trip? Please share I will be happy to read!