Dog Friendly City Guide: San Diego, USA

San Diego gives a dog something most American cities cannot: a stretch of open beach where it may run off the lead at any hour of the day or night. Dog Beach in Ocean Beach is a free running shore, and across the water in Mission Bay a whole island lets dogs run off the lead. Behind the coast the city climbs into dry canyons and chaparral hills, and in the middle of it all sits Balboa Park, with two open spaces where dogs may play off lead. With a mild climate and breweries that live on their patios, a dog here spends most of the day outdoors, which is exactly where it wants to be.

Getting There With a Dog

A dog flying into the United States from abroad must meet the rules of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the first question is where it has spent the past six months. If that time has been only in countries the CDC lists as rabies-free or low risk, the dog must be microchipped, at least six months old, and travelling with a receipt for the CDC Dog Import Form, which you complete online before you fly. Time in any country on the CDC's high-risk list for dog rabies brings more paperwork and stricter checks at the port of entry, so read the CDC's guidance on bringing a dog into the United States well before you book.

Getting around the city with a larger dog means a car. The MTS rules for riding allow a pet on the buses and the Trolley only when it is fully enclosed in a carrier you can hold on your lap and carry yourself, which suits a small dog and nothing bigger. Downtown and the waterfront are easy on foot; the beaches and canyons are a short drive.

Where to Stay

The ranked hotels cluster downtown between the Gaslamp Quarter and the bay. You can browse all of our ranked dog friendly hotels in San Diego, and two of them hold an A.

Hilton San Diego Bayfront, at 1 Park Boulevard, holds an A. It is a big waterfront hotel of 1,189 rooms, and most of them take dogs, up to two at a time and up to 75 pounds each. A dog bed, bowls, free treats, toys and poo bags are provided, dog food can be bought at the hotel, and there is an on site garden and a dedicated dog space for the quick walks. Your dog is welcome in the restaurant, on the terrace and in the lounge, and the hotel puts on dog friendly events. Best of all, a bayfront park sits right next door. The fee is $50 per stay.

Pendry San Diego, at 550 J Street in the Gaslamp Quarter, also holds an A. This five star house of 304 rooms takes dogs in most of them, with a weight limit of 50 pounds. A bed, bowls and free treats are waiting, dog food is sold at the hotel, and the concierge can arrange both dog walking and dog sitting. Dogs are welcome on the bar and restaurant terraces, and a dog park lies about two blocks away. The fee is $100 per stay.

Hotel Indigo San Diego Gaslamp Quarter, at 509 Ninth Avenue, holds a B and is the one to choose if you travel with a big dog, because it sets no weight limit at all. Most rooms take dogs, a bed, bowls and free treats are provided, your dog is welcome in the bar, the restaurant and the lounge, and a settled dog may be left alone in the room. The fee is $75 per dog. A few streets away, Staypineapple Z at 521 Sixth Avenue holds a C, also has no weight limit, and fills the room with a dog bed, treats, toys and poo bags for $25 a night.

Eat and Drink

San Diego drinks its beer outdoors, and its breweries welcome dogs. In North Park, North Park Beer Company runs its flagship brewery and taproom at 3038 University Avenue, and says plainly that each of its taprooms has a dog friendly patio, with a kitchen now open at the flagship. A few doors along at 3117 University Avenue, Original 40 Brewing Company describes itself as pet and family friendly and pairs its own beers with a seasonal menu of local favourites. Mike Hess Brewing has a taproom in North Park among its locations and says every one of them is a dog and family friendly space.

Over in Point Loma, Bay City Brewing invites you to bring your family, friends or dogs to either of its two taprooms, on Hancock Street in Point Loma and on Eighth Avenue downtown, with pizzas, wings and salads to go with the beer. Nearby on Rosecrans Street, Harbor Town Pub is a neighbourhood sports bar with a full menu, an arcade and a dog friendly patio.

For lunch in Balboa Park, Panama 66 sits in the sculpture court of the San Diego Museum of Art and opens its courtyard to dogs. Its rules are clear and fair: your dog stays on a lead and under control, keeps off the furniture, is never tied to furniture or strollers, and does not go into the bar or the auditorium.

Walks and Beaches

Start with the beach. Dog Beach, at the foot of Voltaire Street in Ocean Beach where the San Diego River meets the sea, is open to dogs off lead 24 hours a day, with the beach and the ocean to run in. The city's other great leash free shore is Fiesta Island in Mission Bay Park, where dogs may go off lead anywhere outside the fenced areas, along every shoreline and across the interior, and a 5.2 mile asphalt path circles the island for walkers. The island closes at 10 p.m.

Around the rest of Mission Bay Park the rules are tighter, and the city sets them out on its page on beach time for you and your dog: from April to the end of October dogs are kept off between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., through the winter between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., and outside those hours they must be on a lead. That makes the Mission Bay Trail around the bay an early morning or evening walk.

In Balboa Park, the city has set aside two leash free areas, both open 24 hours. Nate's Point lies on Balboa Drive at El Prado, on the south side of the Cabrillo Bridge, and the open space at Morley Field lies to the north west of the tennis courts.

For a proper hike, head inland. Mission Trails Regional Park takes in a stretch of the San Diego River, and its best known climb is Cowles Mountain from Barker Way; the park's own advice for dogs is to hike early in the morning or later in the evening and carry plenty of water. North of the city, the Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve stretches about seven miles and some 4,000 acres through Peñasquitos and Lopez Canyons, jointly run by the city and the county, and the canyon trail follows the creek past oaks and sycamores. Dogs stay on a lead in both, as they do in every city park outside the posted leash free areas.

A Day Out

Begin early at Dog Beach and let your dog run the sand and the shallows. Dry off on the drive across to Balboa Park, give your dog a second run at Nate's Point, then take a slow walk along the Prado to Panama 66 and an unhurried lunch in the sculpture court.

Spend the afternoon in North Park, a few minutes away, where North Park Beer Company and Original 40 sit a few doors apart on University Avenue, Mike Hess has a taproom too, and every patio welcomes a dog. As the day cools, drive down to Fiesta Island and walk part of the shoreline path as the sun drops over Mission Bay, your dog off lead beside you.

Good to Know

The city's rule is that every dog stays on a lead no longer than eight feet in all parks, including the trails and canyons, until it is inside the posted boundary of a leash free area, as the city's page on your dogs and city parks explains, for protection from rattlesnakes, ticks, traffic and poison oak. In the leash free areas you must pick up after your dog, its vaccinations should be up to date, and it should wear a current licence from the San Diego Humane Society.

On Fiesta Island, two California least tern nesting sites are fenced and locked all year, and two buffer zones around them close from April 15 to September 15, so follow the signs. Dogs are not allowed at the island's Youth Aquatic Center. On the trails inland, carry plenty of water for your dog, since the canyons are dry and open to the sun.