Overview

San Diego Bay offers a peaceful backdrop to dining, with calm waters, while watching boats and ships passby. Here, you feel connected to the central activity of the city and surroundings. Most of the restaurants are near shoreline parks and pathways, giving you the opportunity to take a short or long bayside walk, or cat nap on the green.

Coronado Ferry's Landing Marketplace: The Marketplace is a collection of restaurants, specialty and gift shops, and art galleries on the Coronado side of San Diego Bay. Bay Beach Cafe has the best view, directly in front of the beach and Ferry's Landing, with a spectacular view of downtown San Diego. Also at the Marketplace are Spyro's Gyros Greek Cafe, Thai Cafe, and a small hot dog concession near the beach. And within walking distance are a handful of other restaurants. You can get here via car, ferry or water taxi.

Shelter Island: This man-made island offers several family-friendly restaurants along Shelter Island Drive. Located on the east end is Bali Hai, one of the best known of all the restaurants here. Humphrey's By the Bay, another popular dining spot, also has concerts by the bay. While visiting Shelter Island, you can walk from one end of the island to the other, along a concrete path beside San Diego Bay. The island also has resort hotels, several marinas, a fishing pier, a boat launch ramp, a park, and a small sandy beach with fire rings.

Harbor Island: This island has a peaceful atmosphere with a handful of family-friendly, fairly upscale, restaurants. If you're in the mood for dining with a view of San Diego Bay, Island Prime, on the east end of Harbor Island, overlooks downtown San Diego and the Coronado Bay Bridge. Tom Ham's Lighthouse, on the west end, has great views of the inlet to the bay, Point Loma and North Island. The other restaurants have some bay views, but mainly overlook the marinas on the north side of the island. As with Shelter Island, you can walk from one end of Harbor Island to the other along a concrete path next to the bay. A small park on the west side is ideal for kicking back, fishing and watching the boats.

Downtown Embarcadero: There are plenty of places to dine, here. This boardwalk runs along the downtown San Diego waterfront, from the Embarcadero Marina South northward to the Maritime Museum of San Diego. At the south end, Joe's Crab Shack, sits on the water at Embarcadero Park South. Farther north, Seaport Village has a high concentration of restaurants, both formal and informal. San Diego Pier Cafe, as it's name says, sits on a wooden pier on Seaport Village's west end. Farther north still, are a few dining spots on the bay and a few across N. Harbor Drive.

Chula Vista Harbor: You have your choice of Galley at the Marina or South Bay Fish & Grill, both fine restaurants. The small, secluded harbor has two marinas, a boat launch ramp, and a fishing pier. Beside the harbor are three shoreline parks within easy walking distance of the harbor. Also nearby is Chula Vista RV Resort.

Chula Vista Third Avenue Village: An ideal place for a stroll, Third Avenue Village is lined with trees in Chula Vista's historic downtown. Third Ave is east of San Diego Bay, but nevertheless in the heart of a city on the bay. Here, you can see a wide variety of shops, services, entertainment, and enticing restaurants with history and charm. The thoroughfare has over three dozen restaurants, including a sizeable number of cafes and family dine spots. There's nothing sleezy about this area. Everything's squeeky clean and in good repair, including the restaurants, lamp posts, streets and sidewalks. Parking is diagonal, giving it that small main street charm.