Pacific Beach, CA fishing times, tides & weather

Spot type

Open-coast ocean pier in Pacific Beach. CDFW lists Crystal Pier (Pacific Beach) among San Diego County's public fishing piers (CDFW: California Beach Fishing). A 2013 California Coastal Commission staff report says the westernmost portion of the pier is owned, operated and maintained by the City of San Diego as a public fishing and observation pier (California Coastal Commission staff report, 2013).

Public access

• Ownership: the City says its portions of the pier are the public portion (the westernmost half of the pier) and the western half of the wider section, which it leases to the Crystal Pier Hotel. The hotel owns the easternmost half of the wider section (City of San Diego, 2025-07-03). The Coastal Commission report says the City lease provides a pedestrian easement along the center of the pier, giving the public access along its entire length (Coastal Commission).
• Hours: the 2013 Coastal Commission report says the permitted hours for public use of the pier are 7 a.m. to sunset daily. It found that a sign at the hotel gate saying 8 a.m. to sunset was an apparent violation (Coastal Commission). Check posted signs on site.
• Status: the public portion of the pier closed in December 2023 after storm damage. The City said it would fully reopen the pier on July 7, 2025 (City of San Diego). Check the City of San Diego for current status before you go. CDFW notes that a landowner may close a public pier for safety, maintenance or other reasons at any time. As of 2026-10-16, CDFW's public-pier list does not mark Crystal Pier as closed (CDFW).

Commonly caught species

Secondary sources only. Neither CDFW nor the City publishes a species list for this pier.

• San Diego Tourism Authority: barred surfperch, corbina, walleye surfperch, shovelnose guitarfish and the occasional halibut, with sand and calico bass mostly toward the end of the pier. It also calls the pier a lobster spot (San Diego Tourism Authority: 7 Pier Fishing Spots, secondary).
• A pier-fishing guide also lists yellowfin and spotfin croaker, Pacific mackerel, and rays including round stingrays, thornback rays and bat rays (Pier Fishing in California: Crystal Pier, secondary; page last modified January 2023).

Local rules and authority

• Licence: CDFW does not require a fishing licence when fishing recreationally from a public pier in ocean or bay waters, as defined in Title 14 CCR §1.88. All other regulations still apply, including minimum size, bag limits, report cards and seasons. Public piers also have their own gear limits (number of lines and crab gear per person); check CDFW's current rules before fishing (CDFW: California Beach Fishing; CDFW: Sport Fishing Licenses and Report Cards). CDFW says a licence is required everywhere except a public pier, including if you go down to the beach to land a fish hooked from the pier (CDFW).
• Marine protected areas: the southern boundary of the South La Jolla SMR and South La Jolla SMCA is at 32° 47.945′ N. In the SMR, no take of any marine resource is allowed. In the SMCA, only recreational take of certain pelagic finfish by hook and line is allowed (CDFW: South La Jolla SMR/SMCA). That boundary reaches the shore about 0.2 mi north of Crystal Pier (straight-line, from CDFW's boundary latitude and the pier's OpenStreetMap position, [8]). Further north, off La Jolla Shores, are Matlahuayl SMR and the San Diego-Scripps Coastal SMCA, which have their own rules (CDFW: Matlahuayl SMR and San Diego-Scripps Coastal SMCA).
• Fish consumption: check OEHHA's fish advisories for eating guidance before eating your catch (OEHHA: Statewide advisory for California coastal locations).
• Regulations: check CDFW's current ocean sport fishing regulations for size limits, bag limits and seasons (CDFW: Ocean Sport Fishing).

Tide station

• NOAA 9410230, "La Jolla" (prediction list name: "La Jolla (Scripps Institution Wharf)"), at 32.8669 N, 117.2571 W. NOAA's tide-prediction station list gives it type "R" (reference) (NOAA prediction stations list; NOAA station metadata; NOAA station home).
• Distance: about 4.9 mi north of Crystal Pier in a straight line, computed from NOAA's station coordinates and the pier's OpenStreetMap position ([12]; [8]).
• Same water body: yes. Both are on the open Pacific coast.
• Mission Bay station: NOAA 9410196 (Mission Bay, Campland) is closer, about 2 mi away, but it is inside Mission Bay, so it is a poorer match for open-coast tides ([12]).

Other spots nearby

Distances are straight-line from Crystal Pier, computed from OpenStreetMap coordinates ([8]).

• Ocean Beach Pier: about 3 mi south. As of 2026-10-16, CDFW's public-pier list marks it as temporarily closed (CDFW).
• Shelter Island Pier, San Diego Bay: about 6 mi south-southeast. CDFW lists it as a public pier (CDFW).
• La Jolla Shores (Matlahuayl SMR and San Diego-Scripps Coastal SMCA rules apply): about 4 mi north (CDFW).
• Oceanside Pier: about 28 mi north-northwest. CDFW lists it as a public pier (CDFW).

Note updates

• 2026-10-16: Checked against the sources listed below and approved, replacing the earlier draft shown on this page. Statements we couldn't confirm from those sources were taken out, and status lines now carry the date we checked them. Changes from the draft:
  • Removed pier hours and parking details taken from tourism and fishing-guide sites; the hours shown are dated to their official source.
  • La Jolla Shores distance corrected to about 4 mi.

Sources

1. California Beach Fishing — CDFW — https://wildlife.ca.gov/Fishing/Ocean/Beach-Fishing — accessed 2026-10-16
2. Staff Report Th19a, Application 6-12-002 (Crystal Pier Hotel & Cottages), 2013 — California Coastal Commission — https://documents.coastal.ca.gov/reports/2013/7/Th19a-7-2013.pdf — accessed 2026-10-16
3. City of San Diego to fully reopen Crystal Pier after major repairs completed (2025-07-03) — City of San Diego — https://www.insidesandiego.org/city-san-diego-fully-reopen-crystal-pier-after-major-repairs-completed — accessed 2026-10-16
4. 7 Pier Fishing Spots — San Diego Tourism Authority — https://www.sandiego.org/c/sunny-7/7-pier-fishing-spots — accessed 2026-10-16 (secondary)
5. Crystal Pier (San Diego) — Pier Fishing in California — https://pierfishing.com/crystal-pier-san-diego — accessed 2026-10-16 (secondary)
6. Sport Fishing Licenses and Report Cards — CDFW — https://wildlife.ca.gov/Licensing/Fishing — accessed 2026-10-16
7. South La Jolla SMR/SMCA — CDFW — https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Marine/MPAs/South-La-Jolla — accessed 2026-10-16
8. Crystal Pier location — OpenStreetMap Nominatim — https://nominatim.openstreetmap.org/search?q=Crystal+Pier+San+Diego&format=json — accessed 2026-10-16
9. Matlahuayl SMR and San Diego-Scripps Coastal SMCA — CDFW — https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Marine/MPAs/San-Diego-Scripps-Coastal-Matlahuayl — accessed 2026-10-16
10. Statewide Advisory for Eating Fish from California Coastal Locations without Site-Specific Advice — OEHHA — https://oehha.ca.gov/advisories/statewide-advisory-eating-fish-california-coastal-locations-without-site-specific-advice — accessed 2026-10-16
11. Ocean Sport Fishing — CDFW — https://wildlife.ca.gov/Fishing/Ocean — accessed 2026-10-16
12. Tide prediction stations list — NOAA CO-OPS — https://api.tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/mdapi/prod/webapi/stations.json?type=tidepredictions — accessed 2026-10-16
13. Station 9410230 metadata — NOAA CO-OPS — https://api.tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/mdapi/prod/webapi/stations/9410230.json — accessed 2026-10-16
14. La Jolla, CA station home — NOAA Tides & Currents — https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/stationhome.html?id=9410230 — accessed 2026-10-16