San Diego · Backpacking
ON A BUDGET
Surf hostels, a trolley to the Mexican border, and a park full of free gardens and architecture.
Ocean Beach and the Gaslamp
Dorm beds split between the Gaslamp Quarter downtown and the surf hostels of Ocean Beach and Pacific Beach, which are cheaper and closer to the water.
What a day costs
Bed 40–65 USD, food 15–35 given fish tacos run about 5 each, and a Pronto day pass at 6 covering buses and the trolley.
Getting around cheap
The Pronto card caps fares daily. The Blue Line trolley runs to the border at San Ysidro, the Green Line to Old Town, and the Coronado ferry costs a few dollars.
Free by day
Balboa Park's gardens, courtyards and Spanish architecture, the sea lions at La Jolla Cove, Sunset Cliffs at dusk and every beach in the county.
Where travellers meet
Pacific Beach along Garnet Avenue, where the hostels run surf lessons by day and pub crawls after, and the pier at sunset gathers everyone anyway.