Mission Bay & San Diego Bay
San Diego · near San Diego · San Diego
Fishing · Wind Sports
At a glance
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Best season
- Year-round · bass & halibut warm months
- Best season
- Spring–summer (afternoons)
- Water temperature
- Mild (60s°F) — shorty or 3/2 (warmest coastal water in CA)
Permits and booking
- Licence required
- Yes
- Licence detail
- CA license (16+) required from shore/boat/kayak (public piers within the bays are license-free). Mission Bay and San Diego Bay are protected, warm, and productive year-round. Great for kayak fishing.
What is here
- Features
- Protected, warm, year-round bays · Spotted bay bass on light tackle · Halibut on the flats · Superb kayak fishing
- Amenities
- The ultimate learn-to-ride bay · Warm-ish, flat, protected water · Mission Bay Aquatic Center & schools · Family-friendly
- Best for
- Learning wind sports in San Diego
- Features
- San Diego's learn-to-ride mecca · Warm, flat, protected water · World-class aquatic-center instruction · Family-friendly flatwater
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Not permitted
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
- Hazards
- Boat traffic (busy bay) · Designated riding zones (respect rules) · Crowds · Lighter wind
Guides, rentals and operators
- Lessons
- Yes
Fishing detail
- Water type
- bay-delta
- Water
- brackish
- Methods
- Bait · Casting · Kayak
- Boat
- both
- Target species
- Spotted bay bass · California halibut · Sand bass · Bonefish & corvina (SD Bay)
- Intl tip
- License required (shore/boat/kayak; bay piers are exempt). Spotted bay bass on plastics are the fun, reliable target; halibut on the flats. Superb for kayak fishing — calm and protected. Fishes year-round, even when the ocean's rough. Combine with the SD waterfront. Great for beginners.
Wind Sports detail
- Discipline
- windsurf · kite · wing
- Conditions
- flat
- Venue
- bay
- Wind kt
- 14
- Wind
- W sea breeze, 8–18 kt afternoons — protected flatwater, the ultimate learner bay
- Intl tip
- California's premier LEARN-TO-RIDE bay — warm, flat, protected water and a gentle W sea breeze (8–18 kt). Warmest coastal water in CA (often just a shorty). The Mission Bay Aquatic Center offers world-class windsurf/kite/wing lessons. Busy bay — ride only in designated zones, mind boat traffic. Lighter wind (learning/cruising, not big-air). The best beginner spot in the state.
The guide
San Diego's two great bays — Mission Bay and San Diego Bay — offer protected, warm, productive fishing year-round, ideal for li…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Mission Bay & San Diego Bay — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 32.77, -117.234