Living in Carlsbad, drive to Coronado? (San Diego, Encinitas: camp, taxi, military)

[DreamingBig11]

I have posted many times here and have gotten great information on all of our moves and potential moves. Working for the military, we move a lot. We realized LA wasn't going to work for us and declined the job offers we had. Now we are looking at opportunities in OC and SD.

We use to live in So Cal and want to move back. My wife and I both have job offers. She has one in San Clemente and I have one in Coronado. I know it is far apart, but we are seeing if it would work. I would just try and find something closer if it doesn't work.

My questions are:

-If we lived in Carlsbad, how is the drive to Coronado at 5am and 4pm coming back north M-Th and 5am-2pm F?

-Carlsbad to San Clemente leaving at 7:30am and driving back to Carlsbad at 5:00pm M-F?

I've done Google maps, but it is inconsistent. wanted to get feedback from people who know the freeways well.

Thanks for the feedback.

[jnojr]

Originally Posted by DreamingBig11

-If we lived in Carlsbad, how is the drive to Coronado at 5am and 4pm coming back north M-Th and 5am-2pm F?

This is going to be OK. You'll miss most of the traffic and will be at full speed going down and not much slower coming back.

-Carlsbad to San Clemente leaving at 7:30am and driving back to Carlsbad at 5:00pm M-F?

You'll be moving quite a bit slower than the other commute, especially when the Border Patrol checkpoint is running northbound.

[anita house]

Not sure but there may also be opportunities for van pools to both locations. I know someone who was living in Encinitas and would vanpool/carpool up to San Clemente 4x a week.

As jnojr indicated, going to Coronado will be fine, coming back, you may hit traffic or a slow down through Del Mar.

Carlsbad to San Clemente, through Camp Pendleton will be a breeze (usually reverse commute) but I know a lot of people that make the commute to OC everyday and although it is not ideal, it is manageable. Good luck!

[Liz_7]

Coronado to Carlsbad at 4 pm will not be anywhere near full speed (sorry jnojr). I commute from SD to Carlsbad daily and by 4 pm the North side is already slow. (South to north in the morning/north to south in the evening is the reverse commute.)

Google Maps says typically 1 hour to 1 hour 50 minutes. The longer estimate is going to be more accurate. The morning will be fine; you might get tired of the afternoon drive pretty quickly.

[Cardiff Kook]

No way I would do that

[RosieSD]

Originally Posted by Liz_7

Coronado to Carlsbad at 4 pm will not be anywhere near full speed (sorry jnojr). I commute from SD to Carlsbad daily and by 4 pm the North side is already slow. (South to north in the morning/north to south in the evening is the reverse commute.)

Google Maps says typically 1 hour to 1 hour 50 minutes. The longer estimate is going to be more accurate. The morning will be fine; you might get tired of the afternoon drive pretty quickly.

My husband used to commute to North Island. An issue that hasn't been mentioned is that all of the Navy personnel assigned to Coronado will be crossing the bridge during the same time as you. So, expect stop and go on Coronado and over the bridge during your commute. It will be worse when the carriers are in.

Also, rush hour on the 5 really starts around 4. So, you'll probably have stop and go through the S curve and around Sorrento Valley. My son commutes from downtown to Solana Beach and it takes him about 35 minutes if he leaves at 4:30 (longer after 5).

If you're driving, I'd allow an hour each way, with the understanding that some days it might be better or worse. But, you and your spouse will make it work if you want it bad enough.

One thought: I wonder whether it would make sense to take the Coaster to downtown. From the station, you could walk over to the Ferry and take it over to Coronado. From there, walk to work. This will only work if you'll be working at North Island. It won't work if you'll be on the Amphib base as that is a little too far from the Ferry. This plan probably won't save you any time, but at least on the Coaster you can read, do email, sleep, etc.

Good luck, and welcome to San Diego!

[eastcoastbias]

Originally Posted by DreamingBig11

I have posted many times here and have gotten great information on all of our moves and potential moves. Working for the military, we move a lot. We realized LA wasn't going to work for us and declined the job offers we had. Now we are looking at opportunities in OC and SD.

We use to live in So Cal and want to move back. My wife and I both have job offers. She has one in San Clemente and I have one in Coronado. I know it is far apart, but we are seeing if it would work. I would just try and find something closer if it doesn't work.

My questions are:

-If we lived in Carlsbad, how is the drive to Coronado at 5am and 4pm coming back north M-Th and 5am-2pm F?

-Carlsbad to San Clemente leaving at 7:30am and driving back to Carlsbad at 5:00pm M-F?

I've done Google maps, but it is inconsistent. wanted to get feedback from people who know the freeways well.

Thanks for the feedback.

CBad to Coronado not worth it.


As others have noted, you will get caught with Coronado Bridge Traffic and then hit brutal traffic on the 5 by Sorrento Valley and on some evenings it will be bad from Sorrento Valley to CBad.


Then you seasonal traffic- SD County Fair June to Early July it is a mess in that area. To a lesser extent Del Mar Races July-August and just general vacationers (amazed at what they see or have no clue where they are going) travel 5 throughout the Summer.


I did an hour plus commute one way for five years. No thanks. I now fill up the hours I would have spent on things not related to others moronic distracted driving.


Does this place offer a flexible work schedule?

[DreamingBig11]

Thank you all for your feedback!

[jnojr]

Originally Posted by Liz_7

Coronado to Carlsbad at 4 pm will not be anywhere near full speed (sorry jnojr).

I saw the 2PM. 4PM, especially on Friday, would be pretty awful

[jnojr]

Originally Posted by DreamingBig11

-If we lived in Carlsbad, how is the drive to Coronado at 5am and 4pm coming back north M-Th and 5am-2pm F?

An alternative possibility... take the Coaster from Carlsbad to downtown, get to the Embarcadero, and take the ferry or a water taxi across. No idea if the timing or schedule would work for you, but to avoid driving and traffic, it might be worth checking out!