Cabrillo National Monument Transportation

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The quickest way to get to the park from downtown is by car but if that’s not an option, you can do it via public transit - but ONLY during the week. We had decided not to get a rental for this trip as it was split between San Diego proper and Coronado Island, and most of our sightseeing would be in the city. If you’re in a similar situation, this is what you do:

Get yourself a 1-day transport pass: we bought ours at the Transit Store (corner of 102 Broadway and First Avenue; open only during the week) and it comes on a Compass Card that can be reloaded as needed. See this website for other purchase locations, how to reload it, and how to use it:

http://compass.511sd.com

Then walk 5-6 blocks down Broadway to the Santa Fe Depot (or a Green Line trolley stop closest to you) and jump on the Green Line going in the direction of Santee to the Old Town Transit Center.

Here you’ll transfer to the #28 bus to the Shelter Island Drive stop (G on the attached map) on Point Loma, and then transfer to bus #84C out to Cabrillo NM.

To come back, just reverse the process, picking up the #28 bus at point F on the map, and the Green Line trolley going in the direction of 12th and Imperial.

To use your card, just tap it on one of the card-reader pads alongside the tracks before your trolley arrives, and again on the same pads located at the front of the buses when you get on.

Bus route Map:
http://www.sdmts.com/RouteFiles/routes/pdf/84.pdf

http://www.sdmts.com/mtscr/Route.aspx?r=84

Trolley Map:
http://www.sdmts.com/trolley/trolley.asp

The good news: this is an excellent opportunity to combine visits to the park and Old Town on the same day - which we did. Do Cabrillo in the morning and OT in the afternoon.

The less-than-good news: the 84 bus DOES NOT RUN ON WEEKENDS OR HOLIDAYS. The schedules of the two bus routes also do not always coordinate well so you may have a bit of a wait between transfers, and service to/from Cabrillo occurs only once an hour so watch the time if your schedule is tight. There was a little coffee shop on the corner of the transfer point to the 84 route so we grabbed some joe to pass the time between buses.