Explore La Jolla Coves with Everyday California Kayaking

Get on a kayak and take a look inside the caves!

Kayaking in La Jolla is one of the best places in California. Especially kayak through the underwater park and experience La Jolla’s Seven Sea Caves is one of San Diego’s coolest attractions! Rent a kayak if you had previous experience or go on a tour with trained guides to witness some of the best marine life in California: watch sea lions sunbathing on the rocks, and see the bright orange Garibaldi swimming under your kayak in La Jolla Cove. Throughout the summer months, you’ll have a chance to see one of the biggest Leopard Shark gatherings in the world and in the winter witness Gray Whales. On the way back you’ll have the opportunity to surf your kayak back to shore. Everyday California offers Kayaking and Snorkeling Tours for extra-adventure seekers. Please keep in mind, on a tour you will only go into the caves only if the guide establishes safe conditions.

Perfect For

Adventure Date
Friends Expedition
Active day with Family
Solo exploration
Caves and Ocean
Active Kayaking

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Packing List

swimwear
t-shit
sunscreen
waterbottle
hat
sunglasses
windbreaker (optional)
wetsuit (depending on the weather and water temperature. Bring your own or rent on the spot)

Location

Itinerary

Park in the residential streets surrounding the shop
Head down the street to the beach at La Jolla Shores
Safety instructions
Get in your kayak and head out towards La Jolla Cove
Explore the seven La Jolla Sea Caves!

Q & A

We’ll determine whether or not it is safe to kayak inside Emerald Cave when we’re in front of it. There are several factors our experienced guides take into consideration, but your safety is our number one priority.

We recommend wearing beach attire: a swimsuit, t-shirt, maybe a light windbreaker. Also, depending on the temperature of the water and how much wind is present, we might recommend a wetsuit—bring your own if you have one or you can rent one from us.

We have lockers available for rent (they're $5) if you want to leave your stuff behind. If you don’t want to rent a locker we recommend keeping your valuables in your car.

Everyone will be in a double kayak unless you specifically purchased a single kayak. If you have vouchers, you'll be in a double kayak.

If you're going on a kayak tour, absolutely! We've had tons of people who have never kayaked before and don't know how to swim that had amazing experiences. However, if your activity includes snorkeling, then by state regulations you do need to be comfortable in the water.

Yes, you are going to be getting wet! It's part of the fun. All of our operations take place in the majestic La Jolla Ecological Reserve in the beautiful Pacific Ocean. The degree to which you will get wet varies daily, but the nature of ocean kayaking does mean you'll get a little wet out on the water.

We recommend bringing as little as possible. Feel free to bring a reusable water bottle (no plastic please) or a waterproof camera. Do not bring anything that should not get wet. We have an expression at the shop, “If you love it, leave it.”

There is plenty of parking in the residential streets surrounding our shop where you can park all day. Do not park in the lot adjacent to our shop: we don't own it, so if you park there you run the risk of being towed. We also do not recommend parking in a 90 minute commercial zone, as you will be here longer than that and will run the risk of getting ticketed.

The city of San Diego and the San Diego lifeguards have set the age requirement at 5 years and older.

The weight limit for each kayak is 425lbs / 193kg.

All tours begin at our shop, which is located at 2261 Avenida De La Playa, La Jolla, California 92037. It's in La Jolla Shores, one of San Diego’s most popular beaches, just north of La Jolla Cove.

After meeting up with your guide at our shop, we’ll head down the street to the beach at La Jolla Shores. After some quick safety instructions, you’ll get in your kayak and head out towards La Jolla Cove. All our kayak tours take you through the La Jolla Ecological Reserve to explore the seven La Jolla Sea Caves just north of the La Jolla Cove. Kayaking is the best way to see the famous La Jolla Caves!

Most likely! We have the ability to see tons of happy animals in their natural habitat. Among the sea life regularly seen on our tours are Sea Lions, Leopard Sharks, Seals, Cormorants, Pelicans, Sea Gulls, Garibaldi, Dolphins and many other types of fish. Of course, we’re dealing with nature, so the amount of marine life we see varies from day to day.

No experience is required to come on a tour! We’ve had everyone from children to senior citizens who are first time kayakers come out and have a blast on one of our kayak adventures.

We rent kayaks all year long. If you haven't been out kayaking on the La Jolla Ecological Reserve before, we always recommend doing a tour first. Once you do a tour, we encourage renting a kayak and going out on your own.

Sea Kayaking takes place in the beautiful ocean, which has one major difference from freshwater kayaking: Kayak Surfing! When returning to land in a Sea Kayak, you get the opportunity to catch and ride a wave all the way in.

One of our experienced and highly trained guides will lead you and your group on the tour. Each guide has extensive knowledge of the La Jolla Ecological Reserve and La Jolla Caves and is trained in water safety, First Aid and CPR.

Of course! Kayaks are perfect for whale watching since they're small and don't disturb our gentle giants, unlike some of the big commercial tour boats.

The best time to go is whenever you want! Our tours start as early as 9:20am (depending on the day), and the last tour comes back as the sun goes down, again depending on the day and time of year.

Snorkeling in the La Jolla Cove and Sea Caves has been rated as one of the top snorkeling spots in California. We’re thrilled to help share San Diego’s best snorkeling spot with visitors and locals all year.

Absolutely! La Jolla is one of the best snorkeling spots in California. If you go on a tour with us, we’ll even give you a great discount on snorkel gear. Just ask us if you want to try!

We use tandem sit-on-top kayaks because they are safer and more fun!

Please plan to be in our shop at least 30 minutes prior to your tour. Your tour time is when we go out on the water, and we leave as a group from the shop 10-15 minutes prior to your tour time. If we do not hit the water on time, the lifeguards can cancel the entire tour. If you’re late, you have missed your tour and there will be no refunds so please be on time!

The San Diego Lifeguards have asked us not permit our guests to take snorkeling gear while they are also renting a kayak or stand up paddle board. Guests may rent or use snorkel gear either before or after the kayak or stand up paddle board rental but not during due to safety reasons. We appreciate your understanding.

We kayak in a Marine Protected Area, so nothing can be taken but photos. We will paddle and snorkel with sea life, and take direction from The Marine Protection Act of 1972.

Rules & Safety

1. Tour Arrival

1.1 All tour participants are expected to arrive 30 minutes early.

1.2 Anyone arriving less than 10 minutes before their tour will be considered a no-show.

2. Cancellation Policy

2.1 Reservations must be cancelled at least 48-hours before your experience starts. Reservations made within 48 hours will not be refunded.

2.2 From June 15th to September 15th, bookings cannot be rescheduled within 48 hours. Outside of these dates, reservations can be rescheduled within 48 hours to Monday-Thursday for 50% of the price of the new reservation.

3. Cancellation Policy for groups of (10) people or more

3.1 Reservations must be cancelled at least 10 days in advance of your tour. Reservations cancelled within 10 days will not be refunded.

3.2 From June 15th to September 15th, bookings cannot be rescheduled within 10 days. Outside of these dates, reservations can be rescheduled within 10 days to a tour from Monday-Thursday for 50% of the price of the new reservation.

4. Refund Policy

4.1 Once you hit the sand (for all water sports) there are no refunds unless lifeguards or tour guide shuts down the tour. We cannot refund if conditions do not permit entry into the caves, as this is out of or control due to mother nature and the ever changing conditions of the ocean. Safety is our number one priority.

4.2 No refunds will be provided if participants are late, miss their scheduled reservation or change or alter their reservation within 48 hours of reservation.

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