San Diego: The Bay and SeaWorld

Early in the morning, we took a bus from Los Angeles to San Diego. On the way, our guide told us one of his more memorable stories.

According to him, border inspections from Mexico into the United States near San Diego were extremely strict, while checks in the other direction had once been far more relaxed. Sometimes, he said, vehicles were simply waved through without being checked at all. His explanation was that, under normal circumstances, no one was trying to sneak from the United States into Mexico.

Then, on one occasion, a tour-bus driver got lost and drove an entire busload of passengers straight into Mexico. Getting back was much more difficult: most of the people onboard, including the driver, had not even brought their passports. The whole bus suddenly found itself stranded in a deeply awkward situation.

The guide went on to say that the United States had gradually strengthened southbound checks. One reason, reportedly, was that fugitives really did use that route to escape into Mexico. By the time of our visit, he said, it had become much harder to repeat the legendary feat of accidentally driving an entire bus into Mexico.

We began with a harbor cruise, seeing San Diego Bay from the water and passing the Coronado Bridge along the way. The scenery was excellent.

We then went to SeaWorld San Diego. It combined marine-animal exhibits and performances with amusement rides, making it roughly equal parts marine park and theme park.

We first walked through the animal exhibits.

To be honest, judged purely as an aquarium, the variety of species was not particularly impressive.

We then watched the killer whales—or orcas—perform.

The name “killer whale” suddenly sounded rather less theoretical. According to our guide, SeaWorld had experienced serious incidents involving trainer injuries and deaths in the past. San Diego had also seen an incident in which an orca bit a trainer during a performance and dragged the trainer underwater. The whale shows had also drawn sustained criticism from animal-welfare groups. At the time, I wondered how much longer this kind of performance would continue. Since we were already there, we watched while we still could.

Looking back, 2016 happened to be a major turning point for SeaWorld’s orca program. A little over a month before our visit, the company had announced that it would end orca breeding and that the whales already in its parks would be the final generation. In the years that followed, its traditional entertainment-focused orca shows also gradually shifted toward presentations emphasizing animal behavior and education.

There was also a seal show.

And then came that staple of almost every aquarium: a dolphin show.

By the time the shows ended, it was nearly time to head home. Then we found a water ride in the park.

There was no line at all. We rode it, got off, immediately climbed back on, and repeated the process several times—the sort of treatment one rarely receives at a crowded amusement park.

That evening, we took the bus back to Los Angeles, bringing our San Diego day trip to an end.