City of San Diego

Welcome to San Diego, California's second largest city. Where blue skies keep watch on 70 miles of beaches and a gentle Mediterranean climate begs for a day of everything and nothing. Bordered by Mexico, the Pacific Ocean, the Anza-Borrego Desert and the Laguna Mountains, San Diego county's 4,200 square miles offer immense options for business and pleasure.

The city of San Diego is situated some 120mi/200km south of Los Angeles. The town's southern boundary is also the border with Mexico. Being on two protected bays, San Diego Bay, which is separated from the sea by Point Loma and by Coronado Island/North Island, and the multi-lobed Mission Bay north of the San Diego River, San Diego has become an important port. It is the biggest American naval base after Norfolk. The equitable warm and dry climate and the beautiful and fertile surrounding countryside (oranges, tomatoes, avocados, fruit and vegetables) make San Diego a popular place in which to live.

The town is a favorite center for seminars and conventions, as well as being important in the research sphere (space travel, oceanography, electronics and three universities). This is where the "Atlas" rockets used in space flights were developed.

San Diego offers the visitor an enchanting natural beauty and a climate with plenty of sunshine: the 1,410 acre/565 hectare Balboa Park, with perhaps the world's finest zoo; more than 68mi/110km of beaches in town and county; countless opportunities for water sports (including sailing and motor-boats); excursions into the nearby wastelands or - by tram - to Mexico. It has more public and private golf courses than any other American town.