Best Postpartum Power-lift
Fit4Mom
Held outdoors in the fresh air, Fit4Mom’s stroller-based classes incorporate resistance bands and structures like stairs, curbs, and walls to get mamas moving. Headquartered in San Diego, the fitness company has eight franchise locations across the county and more than 250 nationwide. Especially popular among new mothers on maternity leave and stay-at-home parents with young kids, Fit4Mom is a great avenue to make mom friends, seek parenting advice, and ease back into exercise postpartum.
Best Global Goals
Women’s Gold Cup Final
Snapdragon Stadium isn’t only for American football—it’s for fútbol. And last spring, the venue hosted the inaugural Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Women’s Gold Cup final between the United States and Brazil. Team captain Lindsey Horan used her head to net the match’s lone goal, lift the USA to victory, and help set the stage for what’s been a monumental year in women’s athletics.
Best Gut Feeling
Floré By Sun Genomics
Identifying an effective probiotic is like shopping for jeans and swimsuits: Of a million options on the market, only one or two unicorns will not cause infancy regression (crying, probably colicky). The solution? A tailor—in this case, San Diego–based company Sun Genomics, who will test your gut flora and design a once-a-day, culture-packed pill attuned to your specific needs and goals (everything from “banish bloating” and “up energy” to “eat gruyère again”).
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Best Use of Five Bucks
Alta Vista Botanical Gardens
Whip out the cakes and candles. Alta Vista Botanical Gardens is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Founded in 1999, AVBG sports 16 botanical gardens bursting with diverse plant life, from blue cycads to edible cherimoya. (Mark Twain was apparently a big fan of the latter.) Best of all? The gardens are open every day of the week, and admission is only $5. Drop an Abe Lincoln off at the door and enjoy a splendid show put on by Mother Nature.
Best Excuse for Staying Indoors
San Diego Mojo
Beach volleyball has been the unofficial signature sport of Mission Beach for a while now, but some of us prefer to call ourselves indoorsy. Enter the San Diego Mojo, one of seven professional indoor volleyball teams competing in the Pro Volleyball Federation’s inaugural 2024 season. Owned by three-time Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings, the Mojo are not only a win for women’s sports in San Diego; they’re a gift for those of us who like watching the game in the comfort of an air-conditioned Viejas Arena.
Best Season for a Season-less City
San Diego Wave FC
San Diego Wave FC didn’t make a splash during their second season in the National Women’s Soccer League—they brought forth a tsunami. Led by SoCal superstar Alex Morgan, the Wave finished first in the regular-season standings with 37 points and won their first NWSL Shield, given out every year to the team who has the best regular season. They were the only NWSL team in 2023 to have an average attendance north of 20,000, and the club set a new league home opener attendance record this year, playing in front of a sea of San Diegans that numbered more than 32,000.
Best Team That Hasn’t Won A Single Game… Yet
San Diego FC
Soccer and San Diego are pretty tight right now. That bond will continue to grow when San Diego FC joins MLS in 2025 as the league’s 30th team. The club will look to cultivate homegrown talent like local teenage goalkeeper Duran Ferree) and give San Diego its first major sports championship since 1963. Oh, and one more thing: The Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, a part-owner of the club, is now just the second Native American tribe in the country to have an ownership stake in a pro sports team.
Best Scenic Drive
Omni La Costa Resort & Spa
Torrey Pines isn’t the only spot worth swinging into if you’re a golf guru in San Diego. Omni La Costa Resort & Spa’s newly renovated North Course (after a stint as the Champions Course, it’s now reverting to its original name) opened for play June 1 after hosting the NCAA Division I women’s and men’s golf championships. With six sets of tees, the legendary course beckons players of all levels, from total beginners to those who pack their own pimento cheese sandwiches.
Best Itty-Bitty Big Leaguers
Municipal of Tijuana LL
California won the 2023 Little League Baseball World Series thanks to a team from El Segundo; however, there was also a group south of San Diego that slashed singles and flashed leather last August. After losing their first game in Monterrey, manager Francisco Fimbres and his Lilliputian squad from TJ ripped off seven consecutive wins to snag a Mexico regional championship and punch a ticket to the LLWS in South Williamsport, PA. A lovely reminder that in baseball—and life—it’s how you finish that counts.
Best Hope for a Swimmable IB
Tijuana Wastewater Treatment Plant
Amid a seemingly nonstop firehose-blast of bad tidings, good news—including the fact that Tijuana broke ground on a new $33 million wastewater treatment plant this year to help combat ocean sewage on both sides of the border—can feel like a breath of fresh air. The UT reported in January that the project should be completed by late September. While we still need to be doing more to protect our oceans and the people who live near them, this feels like a stroke in the right direction.
