Marine life, beaches, history among San Diego Bay offerings

SAN DIEGO — Visitors come to this southern-most California metropolis for many reasons: the sun-soaked shores, the multicultural history, the marine life, the classic architecture.

Cabrillo National Monument on the Point Loma peninsula, just across San Diego Bay from downtown, offers a little bit of all of these, making it a great place to visit for families or friends with diverse interests.

The park is named for Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, a Spanish explorer who, in 1542, became the first European to set foot on what would become California. Cabrillo led a small flotilla north from Mexico into unknown waters, entering what would become known as San Diego Bay on Sept. 28, 1542, making land somewhere on the Point Loma peninsula.

My family’s first stop was the visitor center, which shows movies about Cabrillo and his expedition, the whales that are frequently spotted from the park and Point Loma’s popular tide pools. We also visited the park museum that tells of Cabrillo’s arduous journey, a trip that eventually ended in the explorer’s death in 1543. (We had better luck on our visit.)

Just outside the visitor center is the Cabrillo Monument, a large statue of the explorer gazing off toward the bay and the city of San Diego. Unless it’s foggy, no one will ever ask, “Hey, Cabrillo — what are you looking at?”

The view is magnificent, taking in downtown San Diego, the bay and Coronado Island. A visitor could spend hours just A statue commemorates explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo at Cabrillo National Monument.