Guides · United States
San Diego tickets
Ticket and booking rules for San Diego: timed entries, closing days and official links, checked September 2026.
Checked September 2026 against official sources
San Diego
Bookings and opening rules
Follow the official link before you buy. Full walking days: San Diego itinerary.
Tickets and opening days
- A San Diego Zoo 1-Day Pass costs USD 78 for adults and USD 68 for children aged 3–11, and includes the guided bus tour, the Kangaroo Express bus and the Skyfari aerial tram; the zoo is open every day of the year.Source: San Diego Zoo, tickets · checked Sep 2026
- The USS Midway Museum is open daily 10:00–17:00 with last admission at 16:00, closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day; general admission is USD 39 for adults online or USD 41 at the gate, USD 29 (USD 31) for ages 4–12, and free for children 3 and under.Source: USS Midway Museum, tickets · checked Sep 2026
- The Maritime Museum of San Diego is open daily 10:00–17:00 with last entry at 16:00; general admission, which boards all the ships, is USD 28 for adults at the ticket window and USD 30.36 online.Source: Maritime Museum of San Diego · checked Sep 2026
- California Tower tours at the Museum of Us cost USD 10 in addition to general admission and run Monday to Thursday at 10:30, 12:30, 14:30 and 16:30 and Friday to Sunday hourly from 11:00 to 16:00; each tour lasts about 40 minutes, climbs 125 steps, and the minimum age is 6.Source: Museum of Us, California Tower · checked Sep 2026
- The Japanese Friendship Garden is open daily 10:00–18:00 with last entry at 17:00; admission is USD 16 for adults, USD 14 for students, seniors and military, and free for children 6 and under.Source: Japanese Friendship Garden, visit · checked Sep 2026
- Cabrillo National Monument is open daily 9:00–17:00, with the tidepool area closing at 16:30 and the Bayside Trail at 16:00; the entrance fee is USD 20 per private vehicle, USD 15 per motorcycle and USD 10 per person on foot or bicycle, valid for seven days, with children 15 and under free.Source: National Park Service, Cabrillo National Monument · checked Sep 2026
- The Coronado ferry sails from Broadway Pier downtown to the Coronado Ferry Landing in about 15 minutes, hourly from 4:50 to 22:30; the fare is USD 9 each way for everyone aged 4 and over, and bicycles ride free.Source: Flagship Cruises & Events, Coronado Ferry · checked Sep 2026
- The Children's Pool beach in La Jolla is closed to the public from December 15 to May 15 each year for the harbour seal pupping season; the seals can be watched from the sea wall.Source: City of San Diego, Children's Pool · checked Sep 2026
- Sunset Cliffs Natural Park is a 68-acre city park along the western shoreline of Point Loma, with a linear stretch of cliffs along Sunset Cliffs Boulevard and a hillside section, open to the public and free.Source: City of San Diego, Parks & Recreation · checked Sep 2026
On the day
What to watch at each stop
San Diego Zoo
- 1-Day Pass USD 78 adults, USD 68 children 3–11, including the guided bus tour and Skyfari; buy online and go at opening
Star of India and the Maritime Museum
- Daily 10:00–17:00, last entry 16:00; USD 28 adults at the ticket window, USD 30.36 online; bay sails extra
Questions
Quick answers
Is 3 days enough for San Diego?
Three days cover Balboa Park, the bay, Coronado and the coast from La Jolla to Point Loma. A fourth day is either the Safari Park, the zoo's 1,800-acre sister in the Escondido hills, or the beaches north of the city, Torrey Pines State Reserve and its cliff trails, and Del Mar; a day trip across the border to Tijuana is 30 minutes by trolley to San Ysidro and a walk over the bridge with your passport.
Which days should I plan around?
The zoo, the Midway, the Maritime Museum, the Japanese Friendship Garden and Cabrillo are open every day of the year except a few holidays; Balboa Park's museums mostly close one weekday each, so check the one you want. The Children's Pool in La Jolla is closed from mid-December to mid-May for the seal pupping season, but the sea lions at the cove itself are there all year. Summer weekends fill Coronado beach and the ferries; May and June bring the marine layer called June Gloom until noon.
How much do the tickets cost?
The zoo is the big one, USD 78 for adults and USD 68 for children, including the bus tour and the Skyfari. The Midway is USD 39 online for adults, the Maritime Museum USD 28 at the gate, the California Tower climb USD 10 on top of museum admission, the Japanese Friendship Garden USD 16, and Cabrillo USD 20 per car for a week. Balboa Park's gardens, the Botanical Building, Old Town, the beaches and Sunset Cliffs are free.
The days these rules belong to
3 days in San Diego
San Diego is spread out, so the plan groups it: day one is all inside Balboa Park, which is walkable, day two all along the downtown waterfront and across the bay, and day three a coastal loop that needs a car or ride-hailing. The zoo takes a full morning and is the one ticket to buy in advance; the California Tower climb and the Midway also sell timed tickets. The Coronado ferry from Broadway Pier runs hourly and is the best cheap boat ride in the city. On day three, check the tide tables for the Cabrillo tidepools, and remember that the park gates close at 17:00, so it comes before Sunset Cliffs, not after.
