San Diego airport transportation

November 1, 2010 6:17 PM

What's the best way (cheapest, quickest) to get from the San Diego airport to a beach hotel in the town of Del Mar?

I'd rather not rent a car if I don't have to, as I am meeting up with someone else who already has one. It looks like a cab might be pretty expensive, so I am interested in exploring other options. It will be a weekday, early in the afternoon.

posted by mmmmbobo to Travel & Transportation around San Diego, CA (6 answers total)

Well, unless you want to go through the painful experience of public transit, bite the bullet and call Super Shuttle, etc.
posted by america4 at 6:29 PM on November 1, 2010

Best answer: ... and if you're up for public transit or Amtrak (it's much more reliable on the West Coast than in most of the rest of the country, I promise!), take a peek at the North County Transit District site to see if one of the solutions might work for you. You could take the train from the Santa Fe Depot up to Solana Beach and have your friend pick you up there - it should be a short drive.
posted by salsamander at 6:34 PM on November 1, 2010

Best answer: For public transit, you'll have to hop on a bus to Santa Fe Depot from the airport (route 992), then take either the Coaster (see salsamander's link to the North County Transit District) or Amtrak to Solana Beach, then NCTD bus route 101 south to Del Mar. This could take over 2 hours, depending on where you hit the train schedule. There's a few ways to do it using just the bus that you can find with Google maps.
posted by LionIndex at 7:10 PM on November 1, 2010 [1 favorite]

Super Shuttle is really good. Do not settle for their competitors. (I did once and it was horrible.)
posted by exphysicist345 at 11:46 PM on November 1, 2010

You definitely want the Coaster or Amtrak. You can have the friend with the car pick you up at the train station.

Or you could just have her pick you up at the airport. It's only 25-30 minutes from Del Mar if you're not hitting traffic.
posted by Aizkolari at 2:15 AM on November 2, 2010

Airport shuttles and taxis are indeed really expensive compared to the Coaster. When I lived in Del Mar it cost ~$35 plus tip to get home from the airport, and had to stop for several other people in the van along the way. Took forever. Follow LionIndex's advice, or beg your friend to pick you up and save you a lot of time and money. I'd offer you a ride myself if you weren't coming in during working hours.
posted by Thoughtcrime at 2:22 PM on November 2, 2010