San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge is an urban refuge located on San Diego Bay in San Diego County, California. It is part of the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge Complex. It was dedicated in June 1999.
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Living Coast Discovery Center
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Rambler Coffee
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There is no access to the building by car. There is a designated lot for free parking where a shuttle will pick you up. This place is pretty small, but my kids love animals of all kinds so we spent three hours here and used our GoCity pass to pay for admission. You start by going into a small building that has various water creatures and a lizard. This building has bathrooms and a gift shop. They had a little area to touch some live creatures in the water as well, in this building. If you walk out the back doors and go off to the left, there's another touch pool where they have rays and small sharks to touch. The water is deep enough that you can reach anything if the creatures stay on the bottom, which they did. We did return after we explored more and everyone was able to touch something. Also in this area is a larger pool where you can see an injured sea turtle and a huge ray. Outside this area is a covered shelter with picnic tables. Past that is a trail with different enclosures containing falcons, turkey vulture, eagles and some other birds. They had an eagle feeding while we were there. They just put some dead mice in and did a little talk. The bald eagle just threw the food off the area it was on. My kids saw a wild lizard on the ground in this area, which was a highlight of our visit since they haven't seen a wild lizard before. Another area had areas where they do composting and signs up about different composting methods. Out in front of the sanctuary there are walking paths where we saw more lizards and walked out toward the bay. The path ends before you get to the water. There were benches to rest on, out there. After walking the paths, we headed back to the building and just out front they have a baby sea turtle and they did a feeding along with a talk. We visited the gift shop last and were able to ride the shuttle back pretty quickly. Overall, we...
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The San Diego Bay NWR requires you to park in the Living Coast Discovery Center (LCDC) parking lot and take LCDC shuttle to the compound shared by the NWR and the LCDC. Parking and shuttle are free. The LCDC is not part of the Refuge and charges admission ($20 for aged 13 and above). You are not obligated to visit the LCDC (and I didn’t). The NWR building is the San Diego area NWR Complex headquarters and not a visitors’ center. You can, however, get your Parks Passport stamped there. The LCDC parking lot is easy to find, being just off the I-5 E Street exit. The parking lot is also about a 10-minute walk from a trolley station. The Refuge is a former industrial area that nature is reclaiming. There are several building foundations visible on the property. Not many critters running/flying around during my visit – only a few birds and bees… and one rabbit. No other people were visiting the Refuge while I was there although the LCDC was packed with school kids. One last thing… the NWR ground is covered with the invasive but edible crown daisy. Maybe the NWR should allow people who eat this plant to come in and help themselves – after all, it is an invasive species… (It’s also growing in the LCDC...
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PLEASE BE AWARE:
Some people confuse The Living Coast Discovery Center with this, the San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
They are separate, The Living Coast Discovery Center sits within the San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
You can access the San Diego Wildlife Refuge by using the free Living Coast Discovery Center Shuttle.
Once on site you can walk the trails for free or enter the Living Coast Discovery Center which does have an admission fee.
The San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge is beautiful and serene, for a while you're removed from the noise pollution.
There are walking paths inside and outside the fenced border of the Refuge. Obviously no pets within the Refuge, on the outside please do everyone a favor, leash your pet.
There is public parking right off of Gunpowder Point Drive, one right on the corner of the Interstate 5 exit and the other which is further west.
The second one is the Living Coast Discovery Center's parking lot and shuttle stop. Both are free...
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