True Romance
Where to Make Out in San Diego
San Diego, despite the romantic sunsets and pleasurable climate, is not known for its PDA. Have you ever been to Mexico City? Everywhere you look, couples are locked in fervent embraces, dry humping at the park or tongue kissing on street corners. Sadly, SD does not emulate that same passion. But maybe, if everyone pitched in…
Here’s a compilation of local make out spots to get you started:
La Jolla Look Out
The Scripps Institute of Oceanography covers a lot of prime beachfront real estate, making it abundant with great make out spots. One building in particular (located at 8800 Biological Grade) has a wrap-around balcony that can be conveniently accessed from outside. It overlooks the ocean just north of Scripps pier, where you can watch surfers year round and maybe a dolphin or two if romance is truly in the air. When things start to get heated, this campus has plenty of discreet places you can park for a quickie.
Spruce Street Suspension Bridge and Quince Street Trestle Bridge
These are two charming Banker’s Hill footbridges, crossing Maple Canyon and Arroyo Canyon, respectively. The Spruce Street bridge was built in 1912. One of its best features is that if you jump on it you can make the whole thing shake. Quince Street Bridge–one of the only remaining wooden trestle pedestrian bridges in SD–was built in 1905. It was slated to be demolished in 1987 but was ultimately saved by a local named Elinor Meadows, who petitioned for it to be named a historic landmark. What better way to honor her efforts than to conduct a romantic tryst there?
Top of Concourse
This 11-storied parking garage in Downtown San Diego (officially called the Evan V Jones Parkade, colloquially known as “Concourse”) is situated in a plaza that houses City Hall, the Civic Theater, and the Mayor’s office. The exit ramp makes a spiral down the center of Concourse, like a giant corkscrew. There used to be a great view from the top where we would watch the fireworks over the bay on 4th of July. Then one year, we showed up to find the fireworks blocked from view by a recently constructed building. If you are going at night, you’ll need to sneak past a security guard, but the trespassing makes it more romantic.
End of Pier 11A (Navy Pier)
If you find yourselves by the harbor after dark, escape the bustle of the waterfront and head to the end of “Navy Pier” (I’ve never called it that in my life). Next to the USS Midway–once the longest serving aircraft carrier of the 20th century, now a museum that I have zero interest in–this pier is a prime locale to crack open a White Claw and lock lips. Bonus feature: when you walk past the two mannequin sailors on the deck of the Midway, you can grab the arm of your sweetheart and say, “oh shit I thought they were real.”
Switzer Canyon Tunnel
If you want to feel like a teenager, this is the place. (That may be personal–I spent a lot of time here as a teen). This square-shaped tunnel underneath 30th St connects Switzer Canyon East and Switzer Canyon West. It’s approximately four feet in height and covered in graffiti. In high school, my friends and I would come here at night and sit in the middle of the tunnel with our flashlights off, just to freak ourselves out. For some reason, we always thought someone was murdered here? I tried to fact check this and found no corroborating evidence.
Encinitas Self Realization Fellowship Gardens
I haven’t made out here but it sounds fun. Is that wrong?
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PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARDS:
I asked my friends the best spots to make out
Other Cora said Grant Hill Park. I fully agree. Better view than Kate Sessions and better parking. She also mentioned the beach with the fire road. We don’t know what it’s called, but it’s near Black’s and you walk down a long service road to get to it. If you know the name of this specific beach please tell me!
Lisette’s picks were: the golf course parking lot that overlooks Downtown and the tree in Mission Hills that overlooks Mission Valley, because the girl loves a view! Spoken like a true local, she chose spots that don’t even have names.
Chris Center said the well at Balboa Park, after dark. Great ambiance! When I was 17 I saw two acquaintances of mine engaged in oral sex right near here and I never mentioned it to them.
Ashlee chose Ken Club on Adams Ave and Pioneer Park in Mission Hills–one of the first cemeteries in San Diego. There’s still a row of tombstones at the edge, but the rest have long since been removed, leaving 800 or so unmarked graves beneath the grass. There’s nothing like proximity to death to make you feel more alive!
Finally, I asked Min, and he offered up Presidio Park, Mount Helix, and Sunset Cliffs. He also said “There’s a viewpoint in Paradise Hills that people go to.” I mentioned he’s never taken me there and he said, “Well, I’m already humping you.”
