Skating by the Sea

Came here with my boyfriend and his family on Christmas night, and we had a blast! I’ve never ice skated before and I honestly suck, but I had a great time! $ 25 includes the ice skate rental and gets you onto the rink. The rink isn’t that large, and there were a ton of people but the more experienced skaters who weren’t clinging to the side of the rink seemed to still be able to have fun. Parts of the ice had melted, and were dug into from so many people skating and it tripped me up a few times. If you’re an avid skater, and don’t care about the view, this may not be the best place for you. But if you want to say that you had fun skating by the ocean in California, then this is the place to be! Hotel De Coronado hosts this, and their hotel is absolutely beautiful. One thing to note is, we were told we couldn’t park at the hotel for this. So we had to park a bit down the road at beach access parking and walk there.

Since my office closed early on New Year’s Eve, my boyfriend and I decided to go ice skating. Yes, the rink is small and yes, the skates feel like death, but overall we had a ton of fun! There were not many people on the ice so they extended the 90 minute time limit to 2 hours. We also felt that the $ 25 fee was reasonable seeing as we used to pay $ 17 to ice skate at our local Union Square holiday rink when we were living in San Francisco. The beautiful view of the water and palm trees during sunset made it worth the extra few dollars. It was also worth it to see my boyfriend fall several times while trying to impress everyone with his Kristi Yamaguchi moves. Minus one star because they do not have any lockers, just open IKEA cube style shelves where anyone could snatch my purse and shoes. It’s unrealistic to leave your belongings out in the open and you can’t exactly leave your shoes in the car.

I came here on a double date with my boyfriend & roommate & her boyfriend. Although it looked crowded, our lines to pay & get skates went by quickly. It’s $ 25 which includes skates and access to the rink.
The rink itself was about a medium size & pretty crowded. We were still able to have enough speed to cruise around the rink, but often times had to dodge people taking pictures. I didn’t have any problems with my skates hurting my feet, but my boyfriend & roommate both had issues with theirs.
The view & ambiance is what will keep me coming back every year. We went in the late afternoon so we got to watch the sunset over the ocean while we were skating and it was amazing. When it was dark, there were a lot of lights strung over the rink and the hotel was lit up & looked beautiful & made for great photo opportunities. There is also a place to order hot chocolate or coffee if you need to warm up.
Overall, this experience definitely puts you in the holiday spirit.

Brought in 2016 on ice in a different way for the first time in 28 years Definitely the best way to spend a special day with your significant other

The skate rink itself was very small. No one limits the amount of people on the rink at once so you’re basically skating with everyone at once. The rental skates are roller blade boots with unsharpened blades. Also, the boots feel like death before you even get on the rink. Pretty much it’s super unsafe but at least you won’t get cut by blades. Only smashed. Keep your fingers in if you fall!
Other than the bad skating experience, the setting is amazing and definitely worth doing once in your life. Hotel Del is beautiful!

Had to do it this year… $ 25 a person includes skates and a great view of the sea. It’s not too crowded but the skates aren’t the best in the world.
Well worth the visit and quite an experience. Where else can you skate and see the Pacific Ocean in 70 degree weather?!
Priceless

It is really pretty and cool to go skating by the ocean my two stars are reflective of the skating itself– really lumpy bumpy ice, and crowded– not such a great skating experience. The hotel is really pretty though and fun to walk around.

Only giving the 4 stars for ambiance. And for our server, Ben (Or Bill). It’s beautiful. We went for sunset on Christmas so even though most of it sucked, it was still a fun experience.
As for the skating: giant puddle of melted ice in the middle of the rink… which is the size of my living room. Asked when buying tickets when they were gonna pull the zamboni out and they said they didn’t have a set schedule but that if they did happen to use it during our skate time that we would get to back on. Great. Was hoping that they would pull it out cuz the ice was crap. Went anyways and got two pairs of barely useable busted skates. My boyfriend couldn’t even get his strapped on properly, but we rolled with it. We did about 7 minutes before we decided out feet hurt and that it just wasn’t worth it!
Went to the bar, had a great server, who basically made up for everything! When we went to try to get our money back, they refused but gave us raincheck passes… which were unfortunately were only good for 2 weeks. We told our server this and when we said we weren’t going to be able to use them, he bought us around of drinks. I think his name was Ben? Maybe Bill. On the sun deck. So anyways, Cheers Ben! We gave our raincheck passes to a couple in line and they were super stoked. All in all, we had a great time, but if you’re going to skate, bring your own skates. And make sure tAo ask for Ben! He will make your day.

I did not go here but I have a question –Is it synthetic ice or real ice frozen from below???

The ice skating at Hotel Del is great. The company that organized the event went out of their way to accommodate a school group that I chaperoned.
Even though it poured rain at the end of their skate session, the students had a fabulous time.
Skating at the beach, what could be better? (!)

We skate here every year but this year was terrible. I think they had a change in management. The ice wasn’t groomed and the guy who sharpens the skates wasn’t there. Everyone was falling. I’m a great skater but i was holding onto the rail and still falling. My husband just gave up because he didn’t want to get hurt. For $ 25 a head you would think there would be a little better quality experience. This experience gives the sign «Skate at your own risk» a whole new meaning!

We go every year to skate at the The Del Coronado. Slightly pricey but definitely worth the experience. Kids always have a blast, and watching the sun set on the water makes the drive and the price worth while. We will continue to come back.

This is by far the best ice skating rink you will ever go to! You ice skate right by the water! You just can’t get any better than that. The Del and the rank are all lit up with Christmas lights and there’s Christmas music going while you skate. Its $ 25 per person but definitely worth it! Love love love this rink!

Ugh… I was so excited to ice skate here since I’ve heard some good reviews on it and saw some nice photos. First off, I was taken back by the prices. $ 25 per person… I thought that was a bit ridiculous. Since I paid that much, I’d expect it to be a big rink but no… it was extremely small. The ice was also really bumpy and not smooth whatsoever. It was really hard to skate. I’m not sure if the bumpiness was because it was an hour till closing and it was too late to smooth it out… I don’t even know. I was just really disappointed with my experience and thought it was not worth my money at all :(I wouldn’t have been that upset if it was normal pricing. However, the lights and decorations were pretty. I liked the fact that it was next to the beach. Very nice scenic place to take romantic photos. I don’t think I’ll be coming back though… sorry.

What more could you ask for– great weather, Christmas music, ice skating, and all with a view!
Such a fun time ice skating at the Del. It is pretty pricey for $ 25 and but you do get 90 minutes which was more than enough time for me. Definitely a must try in San Diego!

A great place to skate and enjoy the beautiful ocean views. No prior reservations required and the prices are good

Last experience on this ice ring was so disappointing!!! The skates are in terrible shape and make your feet painful after 20−30min on them. Some you can’t even keep your balance on them. I changed 3 pairs, the stuff knew it was not me:((
95%of people there were better skaters then they could show on this skates. For the price they ask they provide bad, bad skates and ice. We are not professionals on ice but we love skating and we are good at it. Just because they have the perfect location they don’t care for a full 5 star service! But they charge you big time! Shame on them! I wonder if price is lower if you have your own skates… Worth the trouble to carry them for 1hour skating? Comparing with the service they have in Chicago at their fun, nice locations (Navy Pier and Millennium Park) /​so lucky to skate there every year/​this ring is trashy. So sorry to say it but the skates ruined my skating.
I would give 5 stars for the location and my experience in 2013 when was one of the best, happiest day of that year.
Always so happy to skate and the location is magical: you have ice, lights, palms, sand and ocean all together. Love it!!!
The sand castle on the beach is professional build and well deserved the tip.

If we are grading on atmosphere alone we are looking at a solid five star review~! But let’s take into account the crowd and lack of zamboni use… crowd, many tourists, but do you blame them? The ice was chopped up and under smoothed… okay, now I get that we are not all champion ice skaters here, but it would be nice to be able to skate on a smooth surface vs. tripping over your own tips due to the lines in the frozen awesomeness. I will plan a better trip next year and take more time ensuring I catch the sunset over the Pacific horizon while slowly skating to some jazz with my love.

3.5 STARS !!
My boyfriend took me here last night. It was my very first experience.
Since it was nighttime, you couldn’t really see the ocean, so i would highly recommend coming here in the daytime or afternoon as the sun is going down.
PROS:
1. Great location by the beach.
2. Beautiful hotel and lots of pretty lights.
3. Plenty of skate shoe sizes for all adults and children.
4. Easy to get in and get out.
5. Restaurants nearby for food, drinks, or snacks.
CONS:
1. Very small skating rink.
2. Quite expensive because its $ 25/​person.
3. The skate shoes will guarantee to hurt your feet.
4. Limited benches and places to put your belongings.
5. No lockers.
6. Parking at the hotel is $ 28 for the first two hours!
Overall, it was a fun experience for a short period of time, but I probably wouldn’t come back because there are so many other skating rinks in San Diego that are bigger and offer deals online. This place gets too crowded and you’re constantly having to dodge people or slow down.

The rink is in an awesome location next to the Hotel Del Coronado and the beach. The hotel makes a beautiful backdrop at night with the lights. Although you can just barely see the water at night, you can hear the waves crashing and I imagine it would be quite stunning during the day.
My friends and I went on a rare rainy San Diego evening and the rink was uncrowded. There was maybe 20 or so people skating, which left plenty of room.
Even on a rainy night, it was still warm and I quickly shed my coat, scarf and gloves. Guess you don’t necessarily have to dress for the cold when ice skating in San Diego. :)
The biggest negative to this otherwise pleasant outdoor skating rink is the absurd $ 25 price tag. You can skate for an hour and a half but we only lasted for half the time because our feet were starting to hurt from the skates and really there’s only so many times that you can skate around in a circle. If the price were a bit more reasonable, perhaps $ 15, I’d gladly give Skating by the Sea four stars but I’ve got to dock a star for the abnormally high cost.