Hi, it’s your travel sisters, Jo and Glo, again! We recently developed an obsession with sea doggos a.k.a sea lions and seals. They’re incredibly cute (check out this montage of sea lions, oh my heart). We crafted a master plan to watch some sea lions.

Apparently, there are enough California sea lions to populate a slippery city the size of Scottsdale, Arizona.

That’s a lot of blubber.

Given covid-19, these outdoor activities seem safer than indoor ones, but you should still exercise caution (wear a mask, wash your hands, auto-immune people at risk shouldn’t travel, etc). Please be safe.

Here are the two places we visited in California to see California Sea Lions and their barking, silly glory.

1. San Diego La Jolla Cove – Sea Lion Rock – Sea Lions Everywhere!

San Diego is a famous tourist spot for watching sea lions. The nearby university, UCSD, owns a dedicated research facility for studying marine life, including sea lions.

La Jolla is a lovely beach town. We signed up for a tour group and they led us into the ocean for some thrilling ocean kayaking.

The kayaks normally seat one or two people. If you’re thinking about booking a kayak rental, I’d advise to check out online coupons before booking directly from the website. We used a groupon to save a decent amount of money.

Or, you could buy your own kayak! I can’t believe the one I linked here is going for less than $100. Honestly, we might go again, so it might have been a good idea to invest now rather than renting it… but it’s still a lot of money. But if you’re in the position to do so, consider it.

While we were kayaking, sea lions would peek out of the water. If that isn’t cute, then what is?!

They also lounge around on the rocks and it’s very fun to watch.

Want to see how ocean kayaking is like? We even kayaked into a SEA CAVE :O! Check out our youtube video!

2. Marina Del Rey, California Fishermen’s Village

Fishermen’s Village has a parking lot, so don’t fret. It’s not an actual fishing village in that sense.

We spent a couple hours here, so it’s not a full day trip like La Jolla. There’s a pier with duffy boat and jet ski tours.

The buildings are charming and the sea lions were so cute. We also vlogged it if you want to see the sea lions in action!

If you want to see a sea lion nearly attack a man who tried to get too close or sea lions kissing and cuddling, definitely watch the video.

There are two locations in this video, Fishermen’s Village and La Jolla Cove. It sums up both experiences.

I don’t want to bash on Fishermen’s Village or anything, but why is there so much trash in the water by the pier? It really broke my heart to see this. I wish they’d install trash cans so that dorito bags and such don’t end up in the sea.

The Marine Mammal Care Center rehabilitates sea lions and it’s also another place to visit to see them. They take donations so if you ‘d like to support their rehabilitation efforts, visit here (TAX DEDUCTIBLE AS WELL). They’re mostly made up of volunteers who contribute their time and effort to saving injured sea lions.

Are you looking for more outdoor activities that are considered safer during the pandemic? Check out this post on gardens to visit for your soul.

Comment and share this post to spread the sea lion love.