Best Place for Athletes to go Clubbing
Club House Encinitas
Need to baby your muscles after a marathon or sweat out the bad decisions you’ve made in the last decade? Club House is your spot. A 50-minute session at this wellness destination in Encinitas gets you access to tools like red light therapy, compression technology, vibration plates, an infrared sauna, and cold plunges (for the really hardcore types unafraid of freezing). The space also offers rotating workout classes from Pilates to HIIT, plus a lounge to continue your recovery with tequila and shopping.
Best Jet-Fueled Spa Treatment
The Fairmont Spa
Fairmont Grand Del Mar’s spa has been refreshed with cutting-edge wellness technology and a design inspired by the natural beauty of Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve. The result is a space that feels both luxurious and grounding. It’s the only spa currently offering the Zestós Dryfloat Therapy experience—a weightless, warm-water treatment that combines vibroacoustic sound (Google it) with jet-powered massage.
Best Power Move in Pediatrics
Rady Children’s Hospital & Children’s Health of Orange County Merger
California’s attorney general just gave the green light to a historic merger between Rady Children’s Hospital and Children’s Health of Orange County. The two pediatric giants will unite under one nonprofit health system, making it the largest children’s care network on the West Coast. For San Diego, it’s a huge medical and financial milestone, expanding access to specialized care and resources for families across Southern California. The deal positions San Diego as a national leader in pediatric innovation and collaboration.
Best Way to Microwave Your Muscles
Saltvault
Saltvault’s name merely sounds like a fun rhyme until you find yourself sweating bullets in the confines of a massive, low-lit sauna-slash-studio, bridge-lifting like your life depends on it. Betsy Blumenfeld founded San Diego’s only infrared mat Pilates studio in 2019, and it has since expanded to four locations across the county. Soundtracked by clubby beats, the fast-paced classes are punishingly hot, supremely challenging, and, yes, strangely addictive.
Best Chance to Spot an Orange-Crowned Warbler
Mission Trails Regional Park
Many San Diegans regularly hit Mission Trails Regional Park for a heart-pumping hike. But few know that volunteers offer weekly free guided walks, each highlighting a different educational aspect of the 8,000-acre space. Learn to differentiate between avian calls on a guided bird walk, or see what critters creep out as night falls on a twilight stroll. All ages are welcome, and binoculars are always encouraged.
Best Excuse to Dink With a Drink
Happy Does Bar
Yes, there’s really a pickleball court inside a bar. But downtown’s Happy Does Bar is less country club, more backyard party with paddles. With outdoor games, karaoke, and casual American bites, somehow, it’s pulled off the impossible: making working out actually fun. Whether you’re rallying on the court or holding a drink and yelling, “Good volley,” it’s the most fun you’ll have burning off questionable calories. Say hello to cardio with cocktails.
Best Incoming Biotech Boom
Novartis
Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis recently unveiled plans for a $1.1 billion expansion in Carlsbad, marking its second major research facility in the US. The project is part of a broader five-year strategy to grow its American footprint—and it’s a big win for San Diego. Anticipated to open in 2028 or 2029, the cutting-edge campus is expected to create around 4,000 new jobs and further cement the region’s reputation as a global hub for biomedical research and innovation.
Best Way to Support a Friend in Need
Solace
Solace founders Ashlee Davis, midwife Allison Tartari, and holistic nutritionist Torie Borrelli Hall drew upon their own experiences with pregnancy loss and fertility struggles to curate their company’s namesake Solace Box, a kind, thoughtful gift for a friend or family member who has recently undergone a miscarriage. It contains 12 comforting, organic products, including soothing herbal teas and tinctures, a cotton cold or heat pack, and belly-cradling underwear.
Best Reason to Trade Grip Socks for Platform Heels
Maybe it’s because Anora—Sean Baker’s 2024 film about a stripper—won five Oscars. Maybe it’s the fact that Pilates’ popularity has made scoring a reformer reservation a sport in itself. Whatever is driving people to pole, the sultry style of dance has gone mainstream, drawing bachelorette parties and fitness buffs alike. Here are three San Diego spots where you can give it a try.
The Dollhouse Fitness
With locations in Encinitas and Oceanside, this pole-only studio has been teaching women how to spin, split, and more since 2009.
Pole Buzz at Queen Bee’s
Queen Bee’s Art and Cultural Center in North Park hosts gender-inclusive group and private classes every day except Sunday.
Vertica Fitness
Founded by a ballerina-turned-pole-dancer, this beginner-friendly Pacific Beach studio also offers classes with aerial hoops and chains and “flying poles,” which are attached to the ceiling only.
