Coronado Central Beach & Golden Mica Sands

Stretching for 1.5 miles along Ocean Boulevard, Coronado Central Beach was crowned the #1 Beach in America in 2012 by coastal scientist Dr. Stephen Leatherman ("Dr. Beach"). The shoreline is renowned for its unusually wide, flat expanse of powder-fine sand, which sparkles with natural flecks of golden mica mineral washed down over millennia from the Peninsular Ranges.

Facing south toward Point Loma and the Coronado Islands, the beach offers tranquil surf, tide pools near the North Island fence, and panoramic views of the Pacific sunset that have welcomed visitors for more than a century.

During the Victorian era, bathers dressed in wool bathing suits strolled from the Hotel Del to wooden boardwalk pavilions along this coast. Between 1900 and 1939, the southern stretch accommodated Coronado Tent City, where thousands of summer vacationers lived in striped canvas beach cottages right at the high-tide line.

Today, the beach remains completely free and open to the public, preserved through dedicated municipal stewardship and lifeguard protection. The golden shimmer of the mica minerals beneath the midday sun continues to enchant travelers, echoing Baum’s vision of a sparkling fairy kingdom at the Pacific edge.