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Question about transportation San Diego to Carlsbad

terces

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We will be experiencing Carlsbad Seapoint for our first time in August and will be flying in to San Diego. Is it best to have a rental vehicle for this trip? Can anyone offer some wisdom in regards to the best place to rent a car. (We will probably use the train for accessing San Diego while we are there)
 

buzglyd

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If you rent a car, do it offsite at a neighborhood rental place. San Diego airport has $75 in taxes and fees. Book it at a neighborhood place and return to the airport.

Uber from the airport to Seapointe is about $50. You’ll need a car because nothing but the beach is walkable from Seapointe.
 

SteelerGal

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Definitely get a car.
 

Luanne

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It's California. You'll want a car.

Try using Costco travel or AutoSlash for your rental.
 

Denise L

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You definitely should get a car. We are renting a car for one day this month and it is $57 for a compact car on Costco Travel (though I constantly check it and rebook if the price drops). It was $70 a month ago. Fees and taxes are around $21 for the day, and go down as the price goes down.
 

klpca

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Agree with the others - get a car or be prepared to spend twice as much time using public transportation to get anywhere. You can take the train from Carlsbad to downtown San Diego then uber to the zoo for example, but a car will make your life so much easier because you can just drive straight there.

August should be a beautiful time to be visiting Carlsbad. Enjoy your stay! If you have a car you can visit Coronado for a day as well. It will be a nice side trip.
 

davidvel

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As the other locals have mentioned, So CAL=CAR. The train trip is long as it traverses an inland canyon. Unless you need to travel during commute hours, train is hour+ (after you buy tix and arrive early), and car is about 30 min each way. Coaster fare is $11 round trip per person (or $12 day pass with transfers).

Getting easily and quickly from TS to Legoland, Costco, Stone (w/ DD), The Village, downtown Encinitas, Swami's, other (better) beaches, etc., will need a car.

What do you plan to do during your stay?
 

terces

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Thanks for all the advice. We don't have plans yet. We were in San Diego a few years ago in our RV, but the weather was not great and I got very sick so we did not have an opportunity to experience Carlsbad. We will probably leave the gold clubs at home as we are only there for 11 days, and will simply explore the area instead. Any suggestions?
 

holdaer

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Hi All,
I'm also interested in any suggestions for the Carlsbad area. We will be staying at Marbrisa Aug 10-17 with a car. So far, we are thinking about doing a day trip to Catalina Island and on another day do wine tasting in Temecula Valley. Other suggestions?

Thank you
 

CalGalTraveler

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Go to the beach in Carlsbad. Very lovely.

Also walk/run the beachwalk in Carlsbad which runs for about 2 miles from downtown to the power plant.

San Diego Zoo or San Diego Zoo park.

Go to a seafront restaurant in the La Jolla area on a cliff. Oceanside is becoming hip and has some interesting restaurants and beach.

If you are going to Catalina from Long Beach, check out the Long Beach aquarium.
 

holdaer

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Thank you CalGalTraveler
 

klpca

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My favorite places in San Diego (for August - it will be too warm for some other spots):

Downtown area: Coronado Island http://coronadovisitorcenter.com/ , the Zoo and Balboa Park https://www.balboapark.org/, The Midway Museum https://www.midway.org/ , poke around the bridges in some of the cute neighborhoods: https://www.sandiego.org/campaigns/sunny-7/san-diegos-7-bridges-hike.aspx and for us, a stop at El Indio is always in order. Mmmm - tamales. https://www.elindiosandiego.net/

La Jolla to Del Mar: The Children's Pool (more seals than kids these days) https://preview.tinyurl.com/y3wy4sba and walking around "downtown" La Jolla, Torrey Pines Beach - also great for hiking https://torreypine.org/ The Birch Aquarium https://aquarium.ucsd.edu/ Racing at Del mar https://www.dmtc.com/

I'll leave Carlsbad to someone else. We usually just head up there to eat so my suggestions are more limited. :)
 

Luanne

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My favorite places in San Diego (for August - it will be too warm for some other spots):

Downtown area: Coronado Island http://coronadovisitorcenter.com/ , the Zoo and Balboa Park https://www.balboapark.org/, The Midway Museum https://www.midway.org/ , poke around the bridges in some of the cute neighborhoods: https://www.sandiego.org/campaigns/sunny-7/san-diegos-7-bridges-hike.aspx and for us, a stop at El Indio is always in order. Mmmm - tamales. https://www.elindiosandiego.net/

La Jolla to Del Mar: The Children's Pool (more seals than kids these days) https://preview.tinyurl.com/y3wy4sba and walking around "downtown" La Jolla, Torrey Pines Beach - also great for hiking https://torreypine.org/ The Birch Aquarium https://aquarium.ucsd.edu/ Racing at Del mar https://www.dmtc.com/

I'll leave Carlsbad to someone else. We usually just head up there to eat so my suggestions are more limited. :)
+1 on the Midway and the San Diego Zoo.
 

Ianneyan

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We will be experiencing Carlsbad Seapoint for our first time in August and will be flying in to San Diego. Is it best to have a rental vehicle for this trip? Can anyone offer some wisdom in regards to the best place to rent a car. (We will probably use the train for accessing San Diego while we are there)
I live in San Diego. Most definitely get a car if you want to truly see SD. One thing I didn’t see in the recommended places to visit is the tidepools at Carrillo National Monument. Check the tide schedule though... can’t see or explore much unless low tide.
 

Tamaradarann

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We will be experiencing Carlsbad Seapoint for our first time in August and will be flying in to San Diego. Is it best to have a rental vehicle for this trip? Can anyone offer some wisdom in regards to the best place to rent a car. (We will probably use the train for accessing San Diego while we are there)

When we were in San Diego we stayed in the Gas Lamp District and did not get a car for our stay, however, we did when we were leaving to go to Los Angeles with lots of Luggage. On the way to Los Angeles we did stop at other places North of San Diego that we needed to have a car to get to easily.

However, San Diego has excellent public transportation which we used to go to Old Town, the Zoo, Balboa Park and other places around the downtown area. However, if you want to go to areas outside of the downtown area I would agree that you need a car.
 

b2bailey

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Depends on how many in your group, whether all 11 days are at same location, and how much time you plan to just stay poolside.

If only 2 of you, staying at same location, and will spend time at the resort, then you could probably do a mix.
 

OldGuy

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rental car
 

Luanne

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When we were in San Diego we stayed in the Gas Lamp District and did not get a car for our stay, however, we did when we were leaving to go to Los Angeles with lots of Luggage. On the way to Los Angeles we did stop at other places North of San Diego that we needed to have a car to get to easily.

However, San Diego has excellent public transportation which we used to go to Old Town, the Zoo, Balboa Park and other places around the downtown area. However, if you want to go to areas outside of the downtown area I would agree that you need a car.
Yes, there are areas in San Diego where one can get by without a car. We used the public transit quite a bit when we were staying close to Balboa Park. But we also used our car quite a bit.

Also, the OP is staying in Carlsbad.
 

OldGuy

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As mentioned in posts 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Yeah, makes my 2 cents worth about that.

I could say we wanted to try the train from the Carlsbad Inn, but never did, and if I had maybe it would be a post worth a full 2 cents.

:cool:
 

SmithOp

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You dont have to go all the way to SD for fun, go a couple miles north to Oceanside for the Thursday night market, grab some ethnic food and throw back a few IPAs in the Stone beer garden.

https://www.mainstreetoceanside.com/sunset-market


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buzglyd

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We own at Seapointe and use it every year ( week 32 ). They host a breakfast Monday morning that is informative about things to do. Concierge desk is well stocked with info and they can help depending on your specific interests. A car is very helpful but you can take the Coater to downtown. The station is a short walk from Seapointe. Please describe who will be in your group and I will be happy to elaborate.


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terces

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We own at Seapointe and use it every year ( week 32 ). They host a breakfast Monday morning that is informative about things to do. Concierge desk is well stocked with info and they can help depending on your specific interests. A car is very helpful but you can take the Coater to downtown. The station is a short walk from Seapointe. Please describe who will be in your group and I will be happy to elaborate.


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My group is my wife and I. We are there for 11 days, flying in from Canada. The time period seems too short so we may extend it, but as relatively new HGVC owners we are doing this trip as an exploration of a potential resort to return to over the years. We do like to golf - do you have any suggestions and the approximate cost?
 

buzglyd

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My group is my wife and I. We are there for 11 days, flying in from Canada. The time period seems too short so we may extend it, but as relatively new HGVC owners we are doing this trip as an exploration of a potential resort to return to over the years. We do like to golf - do you have any suggestions and the approximate cost?

The closest course to Seapointe is The Crossings. It’s a fairly challenging links course that’s narrow and you lose a lot of balls if you don’t hit it straight. Encinitas ranch is down the road. Also known as EZ Ranch. San Marcos has St Marks and St Marks executive. I only golf once or twice a year and we play the Executive quite a bit because we can get through a round quickly which leaves more time for beer.
 
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