Playas que admiten perros en San Diego

The original: a wide sandy stretch at the west end of the San Diego River floodway, off-leash and legal since 1972 and listed by the city as open 24 hours. Dogs run, swim and meet in numbers that have to be seen, and the adjoining river channel offers calmer water than the ocean surf for dogs that are not strong swimmers. Free parking lot at the end of Voltaire Street, and a cluster of dog-friendly cafes and a self-service dog wash in the streets behind.

The off-leash section at the very north end of Coronado's North Beach, running from just north of the main lifeguard tower to the fence line of Naval Air Station North Island, with the Hotel del Coronado skyline behind and famously fine pale sand. The City of Coronado permits dogs off leash here at all hours, and enforcement elsewhere on Coronado beaches is strict, so stay inside the marked dog run.

Not surf but sheltered bay: the city designates the whole of Fiesta Island as a leash-optional area including all of its shoreline, so a dog can swim from the sand in flat, comparatively warm water with no rip currents. This is the safest swim in San Diego for a dog that would struggle in Pacific waves, and the 5.2-mile asphalt loop makes it a genuine long walk rather than a short beach visit.