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Find more than 2,000 miles of coastline offering perfect waves, fish tacos, and plenty of adventure just south of the border
Growing up riding the waves of San Diego’s many breaks, I’ve come to appreciate our city’s consistent surf and beautiful beaches—but as summer arrives, so do flocks of tourists, beginners on wavestorms, and other coastal calamities. During these times, I daydream of the surfer’s paradise that lies just below our southern border: Baja California, Mexico. There, untouched reefs and punchy breaks await those that seek them.
And while each San Diego surf spot has a handful of nicknames assigned by locals, Baja surf spots are often identified by the kilometer marker along Highway 1 (K-38, K-42, K-55, and so on), as thousands of waves extend beyond surfers’ dominion. So, grab your board, wax, and pesos, and embark on an adventure to Baja California’s best surf spots.
Malibu without the crowds? Sign me up. Contrary to its name, Baja Malibu isn’t a peeling canvas for longboarders to dance across. Instead, it’s a fast-breaking beach break ideal for shortboards. Just 30 miles south of downtown San Diego and southwest of Tijuana, it is many San Diegans’ first stop in the search for Baja waves. This spot packs serious heat, given a solid south swell and even some barrel time for those who can make the drop. Pack your shortboard and paddle out into world-class waves. Afterwards, stop by Bullies Patisserie or burger bar Plan B for fuel and start all over again tomorrow.
Type of Surf Break: Beach break
Skill Level: Advanced
Ideal Tide: Mid
One of Northern Baja’s most beloved waves is a reliable, bowly right known simply as K-38. Just 25 miles south of Rosarito, this popular point break dishes up waves across four peaks known as The Point, The Left, Maria’s, and Theresa’s, which provide consistent rides year-round. Consider wearing booties to avoid grating your feet on the rocks and watch out for sea urchins ready to sting you on a wipeout at low tide. Just up the street, K-38 is home to its own surf shop, motel for lodging, and a Surfline cam, making it one of Baja’s more accessible waves.
Skill Level: Intermediate
Type of Surf Break: Reef with rocks
Ideal Tide: Mid or low
If downing tequila shots and dancing at bumpin’ beachside restaurant Papas & Beer til midnight, then paddling out six hours later sounds appealing, Rosarito Beach is your spot. Often known for its lively nightlife and popularity as a destination for expats, Rosarito can provide fun waves and sandbars to ride if paired with a proper combo swell. Pollution can be a factor here after rainy days, and booties are recommended—not to protect you from submerged hazards, but from a smattering of relics in the sand from partiers and local horseback tours.
Skill Level: Beginner
Type of Surf Break: Beach break
Ideal Tide: Mid
Perched on some of Northern Baja’s steepest cliffs, Salsipuedes translates to “leave if you can.” Heed the locals’ advice and bring a four-by-four vehicle with proper tread, a big wave gun or step-up, and a renewed health insurance policy if you plan on visiting during a powerful southwest swell. Surfers can access this spot through the Playa Saldamando campground for around $19 per night—or via a friend’s boat, if you’re so lucky. Salsipuedes transforms into a surfer’s paradise when bigger swells hit the point. To the north is a fun A-frame breaking over a reef, and further south is a point break with hollow rights sure to evoke Baja euphoria.
Skill Level: Advanced
Type of Surf Break: Point break and reef
Ideal Tide: Low
Baja is a regular-footers paradise, home to endless rights, but here’s one for the goofy-footers. This exposed rivermouth point break hosts a left that’s only 58 miles from downtown San Diego. Pay for parking at the Alisitos K-58 campsite, scope the waves from the cliffs, and paddle out to an empty peak (if you can find one). La Fonda is a gem when a solid west or south swell hits and can get crowded when it’s pumping. Visit La Mision for fish tacos and a cerveza in this small pueblo community just a few minutes inland to end a relaxing day of surfing.
Skill Level: Intermediate
Type of Surf Break: Point break
Ideal Tide: Mid
For more seasoned vagabonds traveling down the Baja coastline, stop by Scorpion Bay for a glimpse of longboarding heaven. This point break has been heralded as one of Mexico’s best surf spots, but those drawn there must be prepared for ungraded dirt roads, limited reception, and long stretches of emptiness. Rows of waves curl into this peculiar bay, breaking over a tabletop slab—a mirage in a landscape painted with sand dunes, distant plateaus, and a handful of local fishing vessels. Visitors can camp on the point for around $200 pesos per person for prime beach access or stay in a bungalow in the quaint town of San Juanico.
Skill Level: Intermediate
Type of Surf Break: Point break
Ideal Tide: Low or mid
Journey north on your next trip to Los Cabos to ride waves at the pleasant beach of Los Cerritos. The spot, known for its iconic Hacienda Cerritos hotel atop the cliffs, attracts flocks of surfers of all skill levels while providing a sandy beach for land-faring travel companions. The main peak breaks over sandbars, offering mellow waves, while the southern reef peak provides more lip for advanced surfers. After a session, paddle in and grab a few fish tacos and a margarita to enjoy on the water.
Skill Level: Beginner
PARTNER CONTENT
Type of Surf Break: Beach break and reef
Ideal Tide: Mid to high
Cole Novak is an award-winning writer with a passion for highlighting local figures, small businesses, and nonprofits. Born and raised in San Diego, Cole is passionate about photography, surfing, art, the local food scene, and the great outdoors.
From San Diego’s coastline to Los Angeles stadium and fan zones across the region, here’s how to experience soccer’s biggest event
When three nations and 16 cities come together to host the FIFA World Cup 2026, the scale stops feeling like a tournament and starts feeling like geography. A continent becomes the stage as borders soften into corridors. And Southern California—shaped by migration, sport, entertainment, and constant movement—sits inside that landscape with all eyes on it.
San Diego and Los Angeles have always felt connected. Hop on the Pacific Surfliner, and the trip unfolds in one continuous stretch of coastline, passing beach towns, neighborhoods, and city centers.
Traveling from San Diego, everything still feels slightly suspended as the Pacific Surfliner follows the coast north with ocean on one side and a slow suburban blur on the other. San Diego stays in exhale. Los Angeles is already building toward something louder.
This summer, Los Angeles will host eight matches of the FIFA World Cup at Los Angeles Stadium, including the US Men’s National Team opener on June 11, while the region stretches into 39 days of programming across stadiums, parks, transit hubs, beaches, and neighborhoods. Instead of one massive fan hub, Los Angeles is embracing a citywide celebration, with fan zones spread across its entirety.
But this pattern has been rehearsed here for decades. In 1994, Southern California became one of the defining stages of the World Cup, when matches at the Rose Bowl placed global attention on the region and turned local stadiums into international landmarks, confirming its ability to hold the world at scale.
What distinguishes Southern California is not just infrastructure, but cultural permeability. Fashion, music, film, art, and sport constantly overlap here, creating an environment where identity is flexible and always in motion. From the Venice boardwalk, where skate culture shaped modern street style, to global soccer stars rubbing shoulders with Hollywood celebs, to authentic Spanish cuisine moving up and down the I-5 corridor, everything circulates.
The World Cup is not introducing anything new here, it’s showing up for the summer and showing out, revealing what this city has always known about itself. What follows is a look at the fan zones and how Los Angeles turns itself into a city-wide stage for the tournament, one neighborhood at a time.
As the heart of Los Angeles, Union Station is an official Fan Zone June 25-28 during the World Cup, but in practice it never really stops being one.
It is the city’s circulation point, its meeting ground, its pressure valve. Commuters, travelers, match-day crowds, and everyday Angelenos all move through the same space, and everything mixes, overlaps, and scales in real time. In a way, this is where the World Cup stops arriving in Los Angeles and starts moving through it.
The Pacific Surfliner from San Diego to Los Angeles makes that shift feel almost too easy. No stress or gridlock anxiety, just a straight line up the coastline with ocean on one side and everything slowly becoming more built on the other. It’s one of the rare ways into LA that doesn’t feel like arrival as friction. You can sit with a laptop, watch the Pacific drift past, grab coffee from the café car, and let the city come to you in pieces.
That’s the beauty of arriving at Union Station. Instead of feeling like you’re on the edge of the city, you’re immediately surrounded by it. And, inside, the station already reads like a World Cup nerve center: banners, movement, multilingual energy, the sense that something global is about to funnel through this exact point. The Heart of the City Fan Zone only sharpens that feeling, with simultaneous match screens, DJ sets, meet and greets, and immersive activations built around marquee games like USA vs. Türkiye.
From there, the city splits outward.
ROW DTLA feels like the first exhale after arrival. A converted industrial campus turned creative district where restaurants, retail, and open-air courtyards form a self-contained ecosystem. If you’re looking for the perfect first meal in LA, make it lunch at Pizzeria Bianco. The thin-crust pizza is reason enough to go, but the space leaves just as much of an impression.
What I liked most about ROW DTLA is how quickly it resets you after the train. One minute you are stepping off at Union Station, and the next you are in a space that feels like its own version of LA, a city inside a city with some of the most curated shopping I’ve ever seen.
Bodega hides itself behind a convenience-store front, a sneaker and streetwear space disguised as something ordinary, like LA refusing to make anything feel too obvious. The whole campus moves like that, part retail, part gallery, part neighborhood you are only temporarily inside.
Isabella Dallas is a freelance writer for San Diego Magazine and the Arts and Culture Editor at The Daily Aztec in her final year at San Diego State University. She previously worked as an editorial intern for SDM, but when she’s not writing, you can find her trying the best coffee spots in SD, devouring the latest rom-coms, and indulging in anything and everything pop culture.
San Diego’s biggest food and drink festival is back for a week-long celebration of SoCal’s best restaurants, chefs, and wineries from Sept. 30–Oct. 4
Maybe it was when Breaking Bad stars Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul drank mezcal with chefs from San Diego and Food Network on the cliffs over Blacks Beach. Or the dinner outside under lights with Alex Morgan, celebrating some of the country’s most badass women chefs. Or the celebrity pickleball tournament hosted by NFL Hall of Famer Drew Brees, where the star of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia made thwacking sounds with locals. Or when Iron Chef winner Beau MacMillan commandeered (some say “stole”) a golf cart and delivered drinks and ice to chefs.
Whatever it is, Del Mar Wine & Food seems to have become the food and wine festival for people who don’t usually like food and wine festivals. The most San Diego thing.
Two years ago, Thrillist named it one of the best food festivals in the country. Last year, 10,000 people came out to experience it, including Guy Fieri. Afterward, the founders spent a couple days trying to put their finger on why it felt so special. They had to name it, lean into whatever that was.
“It all came back to play,” says one of those founders, SDM co-owner Troy Johnson, a longtime San Diego food writer and Food Network judge. “Making world-class bread is serious, but breaking bread shouldn’t be. We gather all these incredibly talented people who take their craft very, very seriously—work their butts off all year to make some of the best food and drink in the country—and then we all just kinda play in the grass. We believe it’s possible to create something of incredible value and make the experience of that thing a laidback, easygoing, unpretentious experience. That’s what this is, and who we are in San Diego. The whole reason we did this was to shine a national spotlight on the people who make our food and drink culture hum.”
The festival dropped its 2026 lineup today.
Headlining the fest are Food Network chefs Jet Tila, Maneet Chauhan, and Aarti Sequeira; Top Chef winner and Michelin-starred Buddha Lo; Iron Chef alum Beau MacMillan; MasterChef winner Kelsey Murphy; MasterChef Latinos winner Michelle Mathelin, chef and Guy’s Grocery Games judge Catherine McCord, chef and former Masterchef Mexico judge Benito Molina, Top Chef alum Jackson Kalb, Michelin-starred chef Drew Deckman, Michelin-starred chef Javier Plascencia, James Beard award-winning chef Brady Ishiwata Williams, and James Beard-nominated chef Mawa McQueen.
The party kicks off on Wednesday, September 30 at Monarch Ocean Pub with Signature San Diego, a walk-around tasting of the city’s greatest bites, from Baja seafood to bold Mexican flavors. From there, the energy carries into a celebrity pickleball tournament hosted by Drew Brees at Barnes Tennis Center on October 2, pairing friendly competition with an all-inclusive tasting experience in support of Feeding San Diego.
The main event is the two-day Grand Tasting at Surf Sports Park on Oct. 3 and 4. The city’s top chefs, food people from TV lands, and local tastemakers gather on the weirdly perfect grass to serve up everything from juicy Wagyu burgers and beef tallow fries to yellowtail tuna tostadas and veggies dressed up in their Sunday best. Wine and cocktail pairings are designed to round out the whole experience, including activations from Aperol Spritz, Hendrick’s Gin, Tequila Ocho, Mezcal Vago, Rioja wines, and Temecula producers.
A VIP lounge offers exclusive access to curated small plates from Michelin-level chefs and pour from some of SoCal and Napa’s finest wineries and drink makers. The Official After Party at Guesthouse La Valle on October 3, a spirited walk-around tasting just steps from the Grand Tasting, where cocktails take center stage through imaginative bites inspired by the smoky, citrus-forward, and bittersweet flavors of classic drinks.
Zones return with activations including the Big Queer Food Fest celebrating queer chefs and queer-owned businesses; the Wellness Zone led by Novo Dia offering a built-in reset with non-alcoholic mocktails, movement-driven activations, and wellness-forward moments. Coastal lifestyle and locally made brands are also integrated throughout the festival.
“We are excited for the fourth edition of the Del Mar Wine & Food Festival this fall, which has quickly become one of the largest food and wine experiences on the West Coast,” says co-founder Chris Finn. “As the festival continues to grow, we are constantly looking to add events, experiences, and partners that will resonate with our San Diego community, and embody the Southern California way of life.”
Returning as the festival’s partner is local nonprofit Feeding San Diego. To date, Del Mar Wine & Food has raised $100,000 to support their ongoing fight against hunger across the region.
Stay tuned for additional events hosted by festival partners including Rob Machado, San Diego Wave, San Diego FC, Town & Country, and San Diego Mojo.
The 2026 Del Mar Wine & Food Festival will take place September 30–October 4 throughout San Diego County.
The week culminates with the Grand Tasting at Surf Sports Park (formerly the Del Mar Polo Fields) at 14989 Via De La Valle, Del Mar.
A wide variety of exclusive dinners, drink tastings, and other lifestyle events will be announced soon and available for purchase individually on Del Mar Wine & Food Festival’s website. These festivities include chef-curated dining experiences across San Diego’s hottest restaurants, a celebrity pickleball tournament, wine tastings, and more.
The Grand Tasting takes place this year on Saturday, October 3 and Sunday, October 4.
General admission for the single-day Grand Tasting starts at $185. An Early Access option is also available at $235, which includes an extra four hours before general admission to meet, mingle, and feast. For a two-day pass, General Admission starts at $275, while Early Access is $375.
VIP tickets begin at $425 for a single day, offering access to pre-festival experiences, exclusive food vendors, a dedicated VIP area, and more. For the full weekend in VIP, passes are priced at $765.
Buy tickets today at DelMar.Wine.
Unfortunately, only service animals are allowed at the venue. All attendees must be 21 years or older.
Isabella Dallas is a freelance writer for San Diego Magazine and the Arts and Culture Editor at The Daily Aztec in her final year at San Diego State University. She previously worked as an editorial intern for SDM, but when she’s not writing, you can find her trying the best coffee spots in SD, devouring the latest rom-coms, and indulging in anything and everything pop culture.
Một Bánh Mì melds Vietnamese and Mexican traditions in a new pop-up concept featuring its take on a local favorite
Is there any food more quintessentially San Diegan than the California burrito? That was a rhetorical question since the French fry-stuffed, flour tortilla-wrapped torpedo of carne asada bliss came into being in the 80s (either invented by Lolita’s or Santana’s, depending on who you ask). But now, Vietnamese-Mexican pop-up Một Bánh Mì may be giving the longtime champ a run for its money.
Một Bánh Mì’s original California banh mi takes cues from both cultures, using traditional Vietnamese baguettes from Paris Bakery filled with carne asada and garnished with cilantro-jalapeno crema, Vietnamese mayonnaise, pickled vegetables, cilantro, cucumber, jalapenos, and of course, French fries.
“It’s so San Diego—it’s so us,” says Desmond Bui, pop-up founder and owner with partner Marisol Santiago. “It really encapsulates the Vietnamese-American and Mexican-American journey and identity here.”
Both grew up in San Diego. Bui is Vietnamese. Santiago is Mexican-American. The sandwich makes utter personal sense.
Neither of them cooked professionally before launching Một Bánh Mì earlier this year, when they popped up for the first time at Convoy Rising for Lunar New Year. But after seeing the rise of the local Vietnamese coffee scene with shops like Saigon Coffee, Chance’s Coffee, and Em Coffee House, Bui knew there was an opportunity for a new generation to put a fresh spin on Vietnamese food in San Diego.
While there are plenty of places to grab a banh mi around town (K Sandwiches, Ba Le French Sandwich Shop, Lee’s Sandwiches, and so on), we’ve yet to hear of a California banh mi. Firsts are being firsted.
“Banh mi is regarded by top chefs as the best sandwich in the world,” says Bui. (Side note: I concur.) And after discovering overlap between Mexican and Vietnamese cuisines through common ingredients like cilantro, lime, jalapeno, white onion, and pickled vegetables, they began planning a menu.
Một Bánh Mì also serves Bánh Mì Đặc Biệt (Vietnamese cold cuts), Bánh Mì Thịt Nướng (grilled lemongrass pork banh mi), and Bánh Mì carnitas de hongos (mushroom pâté banh mi), along with some specials like Thịt Nướng tacos (grilled lemongrass pork) and hopefully soon, al pastor trompo banh mi (marinated pork shaved off a spit) and charcoal-grilled adobada.
Other banh mi shops Americanize names for English-speaking audiences—for example, listing “grilled chicken sandwich” instead of Bánh Mì Gà Nướng. Not Một Bánh Mì. If you’re not sure how to pronounce something, Bui says they’re happy to help. It’s an educational opportunity, he explains, as well as a chance for them to be “unapologetically Vietnamese and Mexican.”
Part of the immersive experience is playing Vietnamese tunes from the ‘60s and ‘70s.
“When you think of universal languages, what are ways when you travel or meet a different group of people that you can still find common ground and connect and feel like we’re a lot more alike than we are different?” Bui asks. “Food and music.”
The musical element is part of Một Bánh Mì’s greater vision. They’d like to evolve into a lifestyle brand and media company, with merch, jars of pickled vegetables, you name it. Eventually, they’d like to open a brick-and-mortar somewhere in Mid-City. In the meantime, they’ll continue to pop up at places like Mixed Grounds and Chance’s Coffee, or wherever they can. (Bui called Provecho Coffee their “dream collab,” hint hint.)
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Have breaking news, exciting scoops, or great stories about new San Diego restaurants or the city’s food scene? Send your pitches to [email protected].
Beth Demmon is an award-winning writer and podcaster whose work regularly appears in national outlets and San Diego Magazine. Her first book, The Beer Lover's Guide to Cider, is now available. Find out more on bethdemmon.com.
The annual event honors middle market companies creating jobs, scaling up, and investing in the region
San Diego is known for its startup culture and innovation economy, but what happens when the company moves beyond its early-stage years? The San Diego Business Impact Awards aim to answer that question, spotlighting the middle market businesses helping drive the region’s economy.
Hosted by San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation (EDC) and JPMorganChase, the second annual awards celebration takes place on Thursday, July 23, from 4:30 to 7:00 p.m. at Scripps Research Auditorium. More than 200 executives, entrepreneurs, and business leaders are expected to attend the networking and cocktail event honoring some of San Diego County’s fastest-growing companies.
Businesses headquartered in San Diego County that have operated for at least two years are encouraged to submit their nomination by Thursday, June 18 at 4 p.m. Companies across industries—from technology and life sciences to tourism and consumer products, as well as pre-revenue startups—are eligible for recognition.
For EDC President and CEO Mark Cafferty, the event is as much about building connections as celebrating success. “We’ve had a longtime partnership with JPMorganChase; their work aligns with our efforts to support underserved communities and drive talent development,” says Cafferty. “And the networking was invaluable last year. I’m still in touch with people I met at last year’s awards.”
EDC is an independently-funded nonprofit that works directly with San Diego companies to help them grow the local economy, make the region as a whole more competitive, and attract and retain top-tier talent with quality jobs. Through EDC, companies can get help starting or expanding their business with support for things like site selection, permit navigation, and regulatory guidance, plus connections to local resources and potential business collaborators.
The San Diego Business Impact Awards began as an idea with one of EDC’s longtime strategic partners, JPMorganChase. The two organizations share a commitment to San Diego and are dedicated to bolstering middle market businesses.
“We’re blessed with a robust innovation economy and startup community,” says Aaron Ryan, San Diego Region Manager for JPMorgan’s Commercial and Investment Bank and vice chair of the firm’s’ San Diego Market Leadership Team. “But one of the segments of the business community we felt was overlooked was emerging middle market companies—the businesses that are no longer small but not yet large.”
Ryan says supporting those companies is critical as they scale and decide where to invest, hire, and grow.
San Diego’s high cost of living remains one of the region’s biggest business challenges, making talent recruitment and retention increasingly competitive. But local leaders point to the region’s quality of life, climate, and collaborative business community as advantages that continue to attract employers and workers.
“In order to support thriving households, there has to be enough high-quality jobs for people to be able to afford to live here,” Cafferty says. “Once a company grows and excels past that middle market point in their growth cycle, they become much more likely to pay higher wages and compete globally.”
Both Cafferty and Ryan proudly tout the unique collaboration that exists among San Diego County businesses. Bringing together top universities producing high-quality talent, cutting-edge research institutions, a robust military and defense presence, leading ocean science and environmental organizations, and a binational, cross-border identity creates a distinct business ecosystem that defines and strengthens the San Diego region.
Last year’s San Diego Business Impact Awards celebrated nearly 60 honorees from 49 industries, representing a total of 8,232 jobs across eight sectors, including: software and technology, healthcare and life sciences, consumer goods, professional services, finance, construction and manufacturing, defense, and hospitality and tourism. On average, honoree companies doubled their revenues over the previous year, employed more than 145 San Diegans each, and offered an average annual compensation of $192,415.
Top honorees included defense contractor Innoflight, environmental consulting firm Bancroft Construction Services, life sciences startup Element Biosciences, defense technology contractor GALT Aerospace, organic grocery store chain Jimbo’s, and biopharmaceutical company LENZ Therapeutics. During the event, Innoflight Founder and CEO Jeff Janicik held a fireside chat offering his insights on investing in the community and embracing San Diego culture.
This year, organizers hope to continue highlighting the middle market players driving economic impact across the region. Nominations are now open through June 18 at 4 p.m. Get your tickets to the San Diego Business Impact Awards celebration to enjoy drinks by Snake Oil Cocktail Co., light bites, live music, and networking.
With wellness-centered lifestyles on the rise, party culture is getting a 10 p.m. rebrand
A ’90s pop hit is blasting as I drive up to Solana Beach to go dancing. I’m dressed in the millennial nightlife uniform: black tee, cute jeans, heels. It is 6:30 p.m. on a Tuesday. The dance party starts soon. I’ll be home by 10 p.m. at the latest. I may even catch an episode of Summer House.
I am acutely aware of my age in this moment. I haven’t willingly chosen the club life since my 20s and early 30s. Yet here I am, transported back to 2014 with a few more wrinkles, a lot more ibuprofen, and a touch of “pandemic stole this from me” in my pocket.
A few days earlier, a friend texted to suggest we go to a concert the upcoming weekend. “I can’t, I’m already tired on Friday,” I replied. At 42, two glasses of cabernet bend my space-time equilibrium. A hard sneeze risks a sprained neck. Did I mention the perimenopausal night sweats yet?
I arrive at the Belly Up at 7 p.m. Wilson Phillips comes on the stereo, and I sing-shout the lyrics before stepping out of the car.
Someday, somebody’s gonna make you want to turn around and say goodbye | Until then, baby, are you gonna let ’em hold you down and make you cry?
Tonight’s event is billed as “the dance party that starts earlier.” Surprisingly, I’m not the oldest person in the room. A 60-something man shoulder bops to the DJ set. A Gen X woman shimmies by and snaps photos of the glow-stick-spinning raver on stage. Few are drinking.
Started by two North County locals, Amal Chandaria (32) and Max Gold (37), Earlier is a dance party for older adults who want a club experience without the sleep-deprived, hungover physical toll. Running 6:30 to 10 p.m., attendees get home at a reasonable hour for a full night’s sleep.
Seems I’m not alone in my tired.
“[We’re in] a time where loneliness is high, people are craving connection,” says Chandaria. “One thing we were really intentional about is that you don’t need to go and have drinks to have fun. It’s about the music and getting the wiggles out.”
Early is part of a national trend: the green-juice-ifying of party culture. Americans aren’t going out as much as they used to. They’re drinking less, and 10 p.m. has become the new 2 a.m. Wellness as a lifestyle concept is old hat, and each generation manifests itself in different forms (fitness booms in the ’80s, organic food in the 2000s).
According to a 2024 survey by consulting firm McKinsey & Company, the US wellness market now exceeds $500 billion annually, up from roughly $300–$350 billion a decade ago. More striking than the spend: Wellness as a top priority has surged from about 42 percent in 2020 to more than 80 percent today.
The timing makes sense. Studies show Covid led to long-term shifts in lifestyle patterns. We all began to reassess our lives and made some existential changes—like 6 p.m. soberish dance parties. In a recent Gallup poll, only 54 percent of US adults reported drinking alcohol, the lowest level in about 30 years. Conversations around longevity turned “treat yourself” into “invest in yourself.”
The downer of any wellness trend, though, has been the “can’t” philosophy—can’t eat that cake, can’t sip that marg, can’t binge that show. What if we could do health stuff and still dance and not totally suck the joy out of life? That’s what people like Chandaria and Gold are banking on.
Last year when they attended Atomic Groove—a variety dance band from 5–8 p.m. most Fridays at Belly Up—it sparked an idea. “People want to be healthy and active, and they don’t want to compromise on that by not feeling rested,” says Gold. “I thought, ‘I bet if we’re feeling this way, other people are looking for something like this, too.’”
He was right. Nearly 200 people showed up to the pair’s first dance party last July. Tonight’s crowd is nearing that number again. Among them is Cardiff-by-the-Sea resident and second-time attendee Lauren Marley.
“If you do one thing for yourself—and it means that you don’t have to be completely exhausted and wrecked for all the stuff you have to do the next morning—it’s great,” she says.
Though EDM isn’t quite my thing (give me some stank-face hip-hop from the 2000s), it’s clear from the number of return attendees that Chandaria and Gold have filled a need, one that isn’t just in famously health-forward cities like San Diego.
In DC, Dancing on the Waterfront occurs every Saturday from 5–9 p.m. while Extended Play DC wraps up at 10 p.m. Philly has Matinee Dance Party (5–10 p.m.). New York City finally chooses to sleep, with Friday Feeling and Matinee Social Club both ending at 10 p.m. Last year, Day Shift, geared toward those over 30, debuted at Bloom Nightclub in San Diego.
In Chicago, Earlybirds Club was founded in 2023 by high school friends Laura Baginski and Susie Lee. About 100 people showed up to the sold-out “dance party for ladies who got shit to do in the morning.” Two years later, Earlybirds Club is now held in nearly 60 cities and regions across the US.
“It’s an outlet that [middle-aged women] don’t get in our everyday life,” says Baginski, who also recently appeared on the Kelly Clarkson Show to share their story. “It’s movement and dance. We’ve learned now that it’s really essential to being a happy person.”
Admittedly, it’s a bit harder to be happy when I walk into the Music Box for Earlybirds’ event in San Diego. War’s about to start, protests are the new social gathering, and the economy is gaslighting me into believing salads should cost $18.
But soon the club is a sea of 700 people wanting to dance their asses off. Any negative emotions quickly begin to disappear. Tonight’s music features hits from the ’80s, ’90s, and 2000s: Madonna, Britney, Christina, 50 Cent, Ludacris.
Shuffling past the bar to the already-crowded dance floor, my heartbeat quickens. Pure, unadulterated joy is oozing in this place.
“The whole club was women’s bathroom culture,” said returning attendee and San Marcos resident Beth Avant, 50. “[You get to] freely dance, not care about what you’re wearing, you’re not trying to really impress people.” Soon Whitney Houston’s golden pipes set the room on fire, arms raise, smile lines deepen, and for a few hours, nothing else matters.
Oh, I wanna dance with somebody / I wanna feel the heat of somebody
While Baginski continues to run the operation, Lee lost her battle with stage IV metastatic breast cancer in August of last year. Honoring her memory at each event are words from Lee herself: “Sing f**king loud, dance like nobody gives a shit, and remember who the f**k you are.”
And who we are are sleepy people. If this new wellness era really takes off, imagine the possibilities. Dinner dates at 5 p.m., the Super Bowl at 2 p.m. EST, Justin Bieber headlining Coachella at 7 p.m. Until then, you’ll find me in bed shooting down plans past 8 p.m.
Nicolle Monico is an award-winning writer and the director of creative projects, digital editor for San Diego Magazine with more than 16 years of experience in media including Outside Run, JustLuxe and The San Francisco Chronicle.
Enjoy the holiday with the city’s best restaurants offering seasonal brunch buffets, prix-fixe menus, and à la carte specials
Consider this your annual reminder that Mother’s Day is not the time to improvise. What’s in: roses, peonies, and a card attempting to summarize a year’s worth of gratitude in three paragraphs or less. What’s out: pretending you “didn’t know it was this weekend.” In a city currently operating at full brunch capacity, San Diego responds as it always does—oceanfront tables, excessive buffet spreads, and sparkling wine refills. Whether it’s waffle stacks, chilled seafood displays, or carving stations doing the most, these San Diego restaurants have you covered.
Brunch Buffets | Mother’s Day Specials & Prix Fixe Menus | À La Carte Brunch
All moms deserve elegance on Mother’s Day. Celebrate a beachfront with a beautifully timeless and tasteful brunch at the Crown Room in Hotel del Coronado. Indulge in options like lemon vanilla pancakes with berry compote paired with crispy bacon, made-to-order omelets or your very own egg benedict station, shucked oysters, whole in-house smoked brisket, Peach Melba Verrine, and more. Guests over 21 can enjoy a complimentary glass of Champagne.
Price: $235 per adult | $125 per child (6 – 10) | Ages 5 and under are free
Hours: 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Address: 1500 Orange Ave, Coronado
Reservations: Hotel del Coronado
Mimosas, marina views, and a Mother’s Day where the only thing on the agenda is enjoying it? We’ll cheers to that. Located at the Catamaran Resort, this Mother’s Day brunch literally has it all, from sushi rolls and nigiri to a charcuterie spread stacked with salumi, prosciutto, cornichons, pepperoncini, cherry peppers, and grainy mustard, plus waffle and omelet stations, cedar-planked salmon, and panko and herb-crusted mac and cheese. Kids can also create a bouquet for Mom that’s just chaotic enough to be adorable.
Price: $120+ per adult | $60+ per child (5 – 12) | Ages 4 and under are free
Hours: 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. (last seating at 2 p.m.)
Address: 3999 Mission Boulevard, San Diego
Reservations: Oceana Coastal Kitchen
Mother’s Day at Arlo transforms into an enchanted garden that’s equal parts lush and indulgent: a raw bar, fresh salads, delicate pastries, 12-hour braised short ribs, roasted prime rib, and Szechuan pepper–crusted swordfish from the Santa Maria grill. Spoil moms, grandmas, aunts, and every beloved mother figure with live music, a roaming mimosa cart, floral bouquets, and of course, a little retail therapy courtesy of the Kendra Scott trunk show—necklaces, bracelets, earrings, or, let’s be real, all of the above.
Price: $99 per adult | $40 per child (5 – 12) | Ages 4 and under are free
Hours: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Address: 500 Hotel Circle N, San Diego
Reservations: OpenTable
Forget the CVS roses (respectfully). Rumorosa’s Mother’s Day brunch is back for its third year, pairing complimentary flowers with sun-drenched marina views. It’s coastal-modern meets Baja soul, where the food is bright and very much not an afterthought. Last year’s spread leans into Carrot Cake Waffles, a made-to-order omelet station, Café de la Olla French Toast, Roasted Lamb Tostadas, and other “yes, I’ll have everything” moments.
Price: $90 per adult | $40 per child (5 – 12)
Hours: 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Address: 1380 Harbor Island Drive, San Diego
Reservations: OpenTable
A boozy brunch overlooking Mission Bay with Mom? Say less. Celebrated at Tidal with a lavish spread of cheeses and charcuterie, a seafood bar stacked with oysters, shrimp, crab legs, and ahi specialties, and chef-attended carving stations with slow-roasted prime rib. Made-to-order omelets and pancakes, maple-glazed pork belly, roasted Baja grouper, vibrant seasonal salads, and brunch classics round it out, finishing with an abundant mini dessert selection.
Price: $125 per adult | $50 per child (5–12) | Ages 5 and under are free
Hours: 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Address: 1404 West Vacation Road, San Diego
Reservations: OpenTable
Mother’s Day at Animae is anything but expected. Tucked into the Marina District, this world-class steakhouse leans West Coast with a playful Asian twist. This year, treat Mom to a dim sum–style experience: a slightly more elevated, endlessly flowing take on the buffet, where indulgent small plates arrive tableside, perfectly complementing the Art Deco interiors and designed to be picked at, shared, and fully obsessed over. It’s less set menu, more choose-your-own flavor adventure.
Price: $104 per person
Hours: 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Address: 969 Pacific Hwy, San Diego
Reservations: OpenTable
Isabella Dallas is a freelance writer for San Diego Magazine and the Arts and Culture Editor at The Daily Aztec in her final year at San Diego State University. She previously worked as an editorial intern for SDM, but when she’s not writing, you can find her trying the best coffee spots in SD, devouring the latest rom-coms, and indulging in anything and everything pop culture.
The William and Mary Jane Rohn Brain Tumor and Brain Metastases Clinical Care and Research Program provides expert care and innovation
Central nervous system tumors are some of the most complex conditions in medicine. Scripps Cancer Center committed to expanding its neuro-oncology services, and has recruited some of the top medical professionals in their field, including neurosurgeon Jeremy Ciporen, MD, and neuro-oncologist and researcher Tresa McGranahan, MD, PhD. But that was just the start. Expert nurses, sophisticated imaging and surgical equipment were also added with philanthropic support. Most importantly, Scripps Cancer Center designed a program that puts the patient at the center of it all. Click here to read more about Scripps’ neuro-oncology program, and here for more on the pair of donors for which it’s named.
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