Visit La Jolla by Land Bike tours have been a popular means for taking in La Jolla. One of Hike Bike Kayak’s most celebrated tours is its La Jolla Plunge Bike Tour, which starts at the top of Mount Soledad with stunning 360-degree views of San Diego. The excursion zips down the thrilling 3.5-mile descent toward Pacific Beach and continues through some of San Diego’s most prestigious neighborhoods, including La Jolla, Windansea and Pacific Beach. On the return, guests stop to take in the fun at La Jolla’s seal rookery, also known as Children’s Pool. Throughout, guides provide a litany of facts, including local geography, sea life, flora and fauna. The tour is approximately 2.5 hours ($50/pp). Tour guide Tommy Rooney of Clairemont describes the expedition as a leisure ride that is conducted at your own pace, although he admitted that his favorite part is going down Mount Soledad “because you can go really fast,” he says. “It’s also nice to see the seals because we don’t know how much longer they are going to be here.” Rooney went on to explain to the group about the cur rent controversy over removing the seals to open the beach to the public. “It was peaceful,” sums Erica Hunt of Davenport, IA. “You got to see a lot of great sites; a lot of great scenery, the way people live here in La Jolla, the houses, the ocean. It was nice and peaceful – a little ride through the city with great surroundings.” Hunt was in town with 39 others from Team Iowa (Iowa’s Team in Training) for the San Diego Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon, June 1. This was her second trip to San Diego; she participated in 2005’s race. Tony Rotter and his wife Cadence Baron, both of Rolando near San Diego State University, enjoyed the “fresh air and sunshine,” says Rotter. The couple won the tour through KPBS’ online auction last year. “There’s a lot of contemporary architecture, as well as older bungalows that are still around,” describes Rotter. “A lot of it is premium construction on premium location — that’s not something you get to see in all parts of San Diego.” “[You’re able to] see a lot of the San Diego beach areas, with many of the most breathtaking views. I think that’s pretty special for anybody that’s coming in from out of town,” Rotter adds. Rotter may have been taking in the architecture, but Baron liked checking out the leopard seals at Children’s Pool. Hike Bike Kayak (2246 Avenida de la Playa), one of a few rental shops within the area, also offers a shorter La Jolla Coastal Bike Tour, which starts from their shop at La Jolla Shores and is geared more toward families. The Plunge is limited to tourists older than 14 years of age. In addition to bike tours, Hike Bike Kayak also conducts kayaking ($50-80/two hrs), snorkeling and mountain biking tours ($65/pp/two hrs). The La Jolla Sea Caves Tour is a 1.5- to two-hour guided tour above the San Diego-La Jolla Underwater Park Ecological Reserve. Additionally, the shop rents surf ($10-18) and boogie boards ($15). …By Air Torrey Pines provides one of the most breathtaking vantage points in La Jolla. The Torrey Pines Gliderport is home to hang gliding, paragliding, scale models and sailplane flight, and also hosts close to 1,000 spectators each week. For more than 75 years, the Torrey Pines Gliderport has been the learning place for aviation greats, including the Lindberghs. The Gliderport was first established as a soaring site for sailplanes in 1928 and has established a long history of motorless aviation ever since. “A lot of the early hang-gliding development, testing and experimentation began here at the cliffs at Torrey Pines,” explains David Jebb, flight director for the Torrey Pines Gliderport. Then, in the mid-1980s, paragliding originated. Now it’s the most popular form of aviation found at the Gliderport. “Eighty-five percent of the aircraft you see here are paragliders,” Jebb says. “Paragliding is a newer technology. Many of the hang-glider pilots, like myself, started off hang gliding and now they do both. We call ourselves ‘bi-wing-ual.’” Hang gliding is an older technology but faster, like an aircraft. Paragliding flies more like a bird, “the way it takes off and lands is very bird-like,” Jebb says. Paragliding also is more maneuverable. There is no running involved and you’re seated, not lying on your belly, which makes the flight softer and gentler. “Torrey Pines is a unique place in the world of foot-launched aviation, because we have these beautiful pristine cliffs and the Pacific Ocean out front, which creates an ideal situation for soaring,” Jebb says. The updraft that’s created as gliders step off the cliffs is second to none. In fact, there are very few places in the world quite like it. Pilots come in from all over the world to fly Torrey Pines. “Torrey Pines, in the minds of many pilots worldwide, is a mecca,” Jebb says. “What that means to pilots jokingly is – if you don’t fly Torrey at least once in your life, you won’t go to heaven. That’s how the prestige and the mystique of this place is spread throughout the world.” There are only two motorless, foot-launched flight parks in America: Torrey Pines and Kitty Hawk, N.C. The Torrey Pines Gliderport does about 285,000 take off and landings every year. For those that want to learn to fly, Torrey Pines Gliderport, the largest paragliding training facility in America, offers a 12- to 16-day novice course for $1,625. Following the course, students receive a novice rating, which means they are technically qualified to fly without an instructor. Instructional tandem flights are also offered — $150 for paragliding and $175 for hang gliding. The Gliderport, which conducts about 2,500 tandem flights a year, does not take reservations as the sport is entirely wind-dependent. Interested aviators are recommended to call the day of to check on the wind conditions. …By Sea Nearly year-round, La Jolla Cove and La Jolla Shores provide envious 70-degree weather, making it an ideal local for water sports of every kind – surfing, scuba diving, snorkeling, kayaking and swimming. Water visibility at the Cove can sometimes exceed 30 feet, making it a popular location for scuba divers and snorkelers alike. Many kayaking tours venture from La Jolla Shores to the La Jolla Sea Caves, and likewise, hundreds of triathletes train along the same route. Sea lions and harbor seals frequent the reserve. Close-up encounters with these curious sea mammals are not unlikely and are always a high point of any snorkel, dive or kayak adventure. During the summer, hundreds of leopard sharks and shovelnose guitarfish, which breed in the area, can be seen from the surface. More thanr 130 different species of fish, including bat rays and sea turtles, have been spotted in the giant kelp forest off the Cove. The canyon below also lends to dolphin sightings, from 15-feet of water to the 100-foot-limit of advanced divers. There’s much to be discovered in La Jolla’s waters. To learn more, check out www.lajolla.com or better yet, venture down to the shore and discover why La Jolla is San Diego’s jewel, not just its namesake. For more information on Hike Bike Kayak, log onto hikebikekayak.com or call (866) 425-2925 or (858) 551-9510. To learn more about the Torrey Pines Gliderport, visit flytorrey.com or call (858) 452-9858. — Sara enjoys scuba diving and snowboarding (depending on the season, of course), and loves to travel. She’s currently training for her third half marathon of the year (America’s Finest City Half Marathon). She resides with her husband in Cardiff by the Sea and they can be found most weekends enjoying the outdoors.