Saddle Up—Fiesta Island a Cool Spot for an Afternoon Beach Ride

Ah, beach weather. When you need a break from the Poway heat you can load up your horse and ride on the beach. Thankfully in San Diego we still have a few places to ride on the beach.

Fiesta Island is part of the Mission Beach Park system and offers equestrian trails and challenges as well as a staging area (trailer parking) and portable toilets in a few locations. Temperatures in the summer are typically at least 20 degrees cooler than Poway, and with the water lapping at your feet, Fiesta Island provides that nice day-cation place to ride.

Just about 35 minutes away from Poway, on Fiesta Island there are approximately 2 1/2 miles of trail and tons of seawater to splash in. I know that doesn’t seem like much of a ride, but if you enjoy the beach your visit here will be at least a half a day, really.

Pack a lunch for you and some munchies for your horse and ride, then relax and picnic on the beach. Meet your pals out there or trailerpool and pitch in for gas in your friend’s rig. There are areas of open flatland that you can use as an arena of sorts. Maybe play a few games on the sand with your friends, such as a relay race on horseback.

I haven’t noticed any fresh water for you or your equine, so take some with you, and don’t forget the drinking bucket. I fill the water tank in my trailer and after my horse, Cricket, gets a nice long drink I use her bucket to pour fresh water over her to wash some of the salt and sand off before we head home.

The waves are very gentle or non-existent since it’s in the bay and there are a couple of great areas for your horse to swim. The swim areas are calm and quiet and trailer parking is allowed so your rig isn’t too far away from you. The trails are mostly sand, but this area of beach can be a challenge for our pony pals.

Fiesta Island is a bustling locale for personal watercraft, boats of all shapes, sizes and noise levels, parasailing, off-leash dogs, kids, kayaks, bicycles, balls, kites, motorcycles and so many more things and activities that would or could make a horse fearful.

Fiesta Island can be very busy and I would not recommend this ride for a novice horse or rider and would warn caution for the intermediate horse and rider, due to the many distractions on the Island. There are points where you are riding very near the one-way road that leads to the island. The speed limit is 15 mph, so vehicles aren’t whizzing past you and everyone is going the same direction, which helps to ease traffic confusion, very helpful when on horseback.

There are some areas that you can be near very few people as you ride along or enjoy the water. The best time to go is early morning and during the week, but if you and your equine are up for a more challenging day, go any time but make sure you avoid the Over the Line Tournament. The island is typically closed during the OTL tourney and will be held this year on July 9-10 and July 16-17.

You can check the city of San Diego's parks website to find out about OTL and large activities and other dates you may want to avoid. You can see Sea World and most of Mission Bay from the island and I happen to love the ocean and the smell of the sea breeze. I have a few pals that like to ride here, and some would like to ride here at some point, most never have.

Fiesta Island has also been used as an evacuation center for those of us with equines that need to high-tail it out of Poway during a fire or other emergency. Remember to have your water tanks full! There are no corrals, but it’s a place to go if need be in the future.

Summer time is the right time to enjoy the great outdoors on the beach with your horse.