Info about wedding in San Diego (Irvine, Orange: rental car, sale, apartments)

[loves2read]

just found out that son of good friend of ours will have wedding in june at submarine base in San Diego--
do not have much contact with them except special occasions now--last time was at our son's wedding where the prospective groom was groom's-man in wedding party but we will be invited to wedding

when I googled for info got the Point Loma submarine base and some clubs with outdoor wedding areas--

what about hotels in that area--or rental condos?

if we had cheaper tickets flying into airport besides San Diego--like John Wayne what would be the drive time to get there

wedding will be on Friday so we will probably fly in from Dallas area Thursday
and have some flexibility for leaving

right now know this is very tentative but I like to get my ducks in a row early--and air fares are just expensive--not expecting to see anything really cheap this summer so sooner purchase is likely better one to me

[shmoov_groovzsd]

Originally Posted by loves2read

just found out that son of good friend of ours will have wedding in june at submarine base in San Diego--
do not have much contact with them except special occasions now--last time was at our son's wedding where the prospective groom was groom's-man in wedding party but we will be invited to wedding

when I googled for info got the Point Loma submarine base and some clubs with outdoor wedding areas--

what about hotels in that area--or rental condos?

if we had cheaper tickets flying into airport besides San Diego--like John Wayne what would be the drive time to get there

wedding will be on Friday so we will probably fly in from Dallas area Thursday
and have some flexibility for leaving

right now know this is very tentative but I like to get my ducks in a row early--and air fares are just expensive--not expecting to see anything really cheap this summer so sooner purchase is likely better one to me

loves2read,

Th drive may/may not be worth it after the plane ride. You can expect a min 1.5 hours driving at least 75 mph to get down to Coronado from John Wayne. This is about as optimistic as I can think with 0 traffic.

As far as accommodations, Coronado is a small island and typically more resort oriented. There are some smaller hotels along Orange Ave like the Coronado Inn. Coronado Island California Hotels
I would advise using tripadvisor.com for some reviews of hotels in that area.

It really might be worth it to just take a plane into SD and cab it to a hotel in the Downtown area. I believe there are some hotel deals starting now for the summer.
If you have never been to SD before, Coronado and Downtown San Diego are a stones throw away from each other so cab costs shouldn't be too high. You could always take the ferry to/from Downtown as well if you really wanted to be adventurous.

[earlyretirement]

Originally Posted by loves2read

what about hotels in that area--or rental condos?

i

Definitely I'd recommend VRBO® is Vacation Rentals By Owner (http://www.vrbo.com - broken link) or HomeAway Vacation Rentals: Beach Houses, Condos, Cabins, Villas & Vacation Rental Homes

My family and I have used both when we rent apartments/homes around the world and have really enjoyed the experience vs. a hotel room.

We also own several properties and use both websites to rent out our properties and have always found wonderful tenants with it. You should be able to find a good property on it..

Good luck.

[Oerdin]

Point Loma is very near downtown and Mission Valley (really any of the central city area) so just shop for what ever is cheapest or which suits your needs most and you will be within a 15 minute drive from Point Loma.

[loves2read]

we have been to San Diego but that was over 15 yrs ago
and we have used VRBO several times fairly happily--
it just seems that most places don't want to give just a weekend rental

if you have any suggests for what you consider a "good value" in a nice hotel please pass them along

I googled for Hotels Point Loma San Diego and got lots of hits--the problem was there was lot of variety in the ratings

will check trip advisor but there is not separate entry for Point Loma hotels--just San Diego

My husband does not like to do cabs--we will rent car even if we fly direct
just did not know how easy it was to navigate the freeways in San Diego--

in LA driving yourself around only seems to create more misery
and in SF the public transport in downtown area is great so you really don't need to drive

[oddstray]

Our other local airport is McClellan-Palomar (CRQ). I don't know whether anyone flies into there from Dallas. The drive from there to Point Loma is much less demanding than the drive from John Wayne Airport.

Traffic in San Diego is nowhere near as daunting as in LA.

In San Diego, you will want to have a car available just for you. I doubt that cabs would be a good way to get around.

[Oerdin]

San Diego is a major, I repeat MAJOR, tourist destination and as such the freeways are extremely easy to navigate. There are literally road signs every where (often in triplicate) just so some zonie tourist doesn't get lost. Good call on renting a car btw because this city (like all of Southern California) is made for people with cars while mass transit or even cabs are an after thought. You'll be much happier with your own rental car and it shouldn't even cost much since there are so many rental car agencies near the airport.

WRT airline tickets, it depends on how price sensitive you are as a consumer. Personally, I'd rather just fly directly into San Diego but if you really, really had to save some cash some where then fly into LAX and drive down as LAX is a much larger airport with many more airlines flying many, many more flights so you're more likely to find the rock bottom price. If you don't absolutely need that money then avoid the 2 hour drive on a jammed freeway and just fly into San Diego. If you're wavering about the money (as in it's a lot but you don't know if it's worth the hassle) then book what ever is cheapest to LAX and see what Southwest has LAX to SAN as southwest usually has the cheapest flights between LA and SD but they usually aren't on most of the price comparison websites (you have to check southwest's own website). As for hotels, I don't know what your needs are (kids, no kids, do you want romantic or just most convenient, etc...) but a good place to start would be Hotel Circle off the I8 freeway. That has a lot of hotels (mostly big chain places), it's close to Point Loma (just take I8 west), is easy to find, and is far enough from downtown that prices will be relatively cheap. If you want some place fancier (like beach front or more upscale) then I can think of a few of those but you'll have to tell me what your wants & needs are as well as your budget. It doesn't do either of us any good if I recommend a place which costs way more then you want to spend.

[Oerdin]

Originally Posted by oddstray

Our other local airport is McClellan-Palomar (CRQ). I don't know whether anyone flies into there from Dallas. The drive from there to Point Loma is much less demanding than the drive from John Wayne Airport.

Traffic in San Diego is nowhere near as daunting as in LA.

In San Diego, you will want to have a car available just for you. I doubt that cabs would be a good way to get around.

Both CRQ and John Wayne airport in Irvine (SNA) will cost much more then SAN. The only place which is likely to be cheaper is LAX simply because it is so large and gets so many flights while the other two are tiny airports (much smaller then SAN) with only a couple of regional airlines serving them. Avoid if at all possible unless you enjoy a $500 connecting fee.

Unrelated side story to illustrate my point: When I was in college I dated an English girl and coming back from Xmas break it cost her less to fly from London to LA then it cost to fly from LA to Santa Barbara. That's how much the mark ups are on those small regional airports which mostly cater to private jets. CRQ and SNA will be in a similiar sort of price category.

[loves2read]

should have bought tix when first heard about wedding date -- non stops from DFW on AA are up almost $100--
will wait a while and set fare checker for maybe a sale closer to 30 day mark--

IF we were to stay north of San Diego around La Jolla--what would drive time be on Saturday morning for the Point Loma Submarine Base
We are likely to spend 4-5 days here and don't know if we want to choose hotel based on one event--
we are not really beach people--much prefer museums and sightseeing

How long should we allow to actually go through the security check point there at Point Loma

the wedding invitation mentioned that we would have to have our photo IDs available and go through security check-in--
Is Saturday normally a busy day for tourists to come on-base for sightseeing or other activities?

don't want to make the drive and lose time there w/o knowing how long it might take?