Get to Know San Diego

Do you enjoy small amusement parks? San Diego’s Belmont Park may be just to your taste.

The main attraction is the Giant Dipper Roller Coaster. This is an old, wooden coaster, but it’s still quite exciting to ride. It was built in 1925, but don’t think that it’s boring just because it’s more than 80 years old.

There are more attractions as well. The Beach Blaster swings riders in circles and up into the air. The Chaos will spin you in three dimensions at random, so be prepared to get dizzy! There are also bumper cars and an arcade.

Looking to get wet without walking the short distance to the beach (yes, it’s right there too!)? You might enjoy surfing on the endless wave of the Flowrider. You can get hourly rides, get lessons or just enjoy.

You can enjoy swimming indoors at the Plunge. I remember swimming in this pool when I was a kid, and it was old then. Built in 1925, it’s still quite a bit of fun. The water is delightfully heated. The pool is huge. The facility was closed for a time when it didn’t meet modern building requirements, but has since been renovated and reopened.

As an interesting bit of trivia, you will see swastikas in some of the tiles around the pool. No, it’s no relation to Nazi beliefs; aside from being used as the symbol of white supremacist beliefs, it was previously a symbol of a variety of different things, depending on the culture and the direction. The word itself means, more or less “bringing good things”. Yes, very ironic and sad to see such a symbol so twisted.

Back to Belmont Park. Bring the kids and let them enjoy the arcade. Check out the special events that might be going on. Go shopping. And when you’re done, take a few short steps to a beautiful, sandy beach.

Belmont Park is a great way to have just a bit of amusement park style fun without feeling obligated to commit the entire day… although you may find that you have done so! Belmont Park is open 11 M-11 PM during the summer months Sunday - Thursday, and open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. Hours are somewhat shorter the rest of the year, and it is closed on holidays.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 28th, 2006 at 11:48 am and is filed under Amusement Parks, Beaches, San Diego, Shopping, Sightseeing. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site. Your comments will be moderated but will appear as soon as humanly possible.