Mission Bay De Anza Boat Launch Overview
The first time we kayaked Mission Bay in San Diego (Trip Report) we had Oru Kayaks (Oru Kayak Review), and we just parked on a random street and carried our Kayaks about 100ft and went Kayaking.
Mission Bay San Diego is a great spot to test out a new Kayak since the water is pretty calm and shallow. One thing to note is that it can get busy with boar traffic, so always keep your head on a swivel! For this trip we got new Pakayak Kayaks (Initial Impressions) which are nesting packable kayaks and this would be our first outing on them!
This trip was a 6 mile paddle round trip.
Mission Bay De Anza Boat Launch Maps
The Caltopo map can be viewed and downloaded here.
Mission Bay Kayaking - De Anza Boat Launch Trip Report
It was a brisk Saturday morning and we were actually on our way towards Mission Bay Sports Center, but while on the highway coming south I saw the De Anza Boat Launch, and there looked to be plenty of parking. Anywhere close to the beach can get pretty bad with parking, so instead of risking it to drive down into Mission Beach we pulled off at the next off ramp and arrived at De Anza Boat Launch.
ℹ️ Gear Recommendations
If you would like expert gear recommendations for your next adventure check out the Ten Digit Grid Gear Locker. I detail why each item has a spot in my backpack!
We Parked in the large parking lot next to De Anza Boat launch and wheeled our Pakayaks over to the beach. We ended up assembling our Pakayaks on the beach and entered the water just in front of the bathrooms.
The bay was fairly calm and there wasn't a whole lot of boat traffic, but it was pretty windy out. Once we got in the water we paddled towards Fiesta Island and decided to hug the coast as we paddled towards Sea World. Hugging fiesta island allowed us to stay out of the way of most of the power boat traffic.
Paddling along the coast of Fiesta Island ended up being extremely entertaining. Apparently Fiesta Island is a great place to take your dog and we had fun watching all the different dogs playing on the beach and in the water as we paddled by.
There were a couple dogs that were very intrigued by our kayaks, and they were running up and down the beach following our every move along the coast.
As we got to the southwest tip of Fiesta Island we left the coast and crossed over to the coast along Sea World and took a short break looking at the empty show stadium. We continued hugging the coast of Sea World until we spotted a nice looking beach and decided to head ashore.
The beach we found was right next to South Shore Boat Launch so I called it South Shore beach. South Shore beach was nice and sandy and we pretty much had it all to ourselves. There was one other small group on the beach enjoying the sun with two small dogs.
We didn't know it before we landed but there was a remote controlled airplane airport nearby, and we ended up having an awesome airshow to watch as we relaxed on the beach!
De Anza Boat Launch Mission Bay - YouTube Video
