SAN-Spot1
Los Angeles Intl. Airport Spotting Guide
March 5, 2013
Auckland International Airport Spotting Guide
April 2, 2013San Diego Intl. Airport Spotting Guide
- last modified on January 28, 2022
With around 24 Mio passengers in 2019, San Diego is one of the smaller airports in the US. But with only one active runway who handles all operations, its a pretty busy airport and gets interesting for planespotters.
The main carrier is Southwest Airlines, followed by United Airlines. British Airways, Lufthansa, Edelweiss and JAL are the only intercontinental carriers with flights to London, Frankfurt, Zurich and Tokyo. The airport is located within the city border of San Diego and Downtown is just a hop away. The approach on RWY27 is called one of the most dangerous worldwide.
Written by Julian Mittnacht, Achim Walther, Bruno Geiger and Matthias Buchheim / Last Visit March 2018
| Rating | |
| Movements |  |
| Airline Variety | |
| Photo Locations | |
| Weather |  |
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| Airport Information | |
| Runways | |
| 09/27 | 2.865 m (9.401 ft) |
| Terminals | |
| Terminal 1 | Alaska, Southwest |
| Terminal 2 | all other carriers |
| Spotting Information | |
| Ladder | Just needed at spot 1 for departures. |
| Car/Public Transport | Not necessary as you are very close to downtown San Diego and can walk or use public transport to all spotting locations. |
| Restrooms | Check the hotels or fast food restaurants that you find all around the airport. |
| Drinks/Food | Almost around the whole airport there are fast food restaurants. Inside Terminal one there is a food court at one of the lower levels, where you might take pictures from. We’ve not tested this spot yet, that’s why we didn’t mark it as spot – we can’t guarantee at the moment. |
| Hotels | The Motel 6 is almost directly under the approach path. You can “relax” at the pool and watch the planes arriving. The DoubleTree by Hilton Downtown San Diego offers a nice view of the 27 approach from the balcony if you get a room on the upper floors. Pictures taken there. |
| Season | Avoid the hot summer months. At all of the locations heat haze is very visible even in winter. I had this happen at all spots in the guide but it usually dies down as it gets later. Early evening is when it usually ends. |
| Runway Usage | |
| 09/27 | Main runway direction is 27 as the wind comes from the ocean. 09 is very uncommon. |
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Spot #1 – Official Viewing Area – 27 arrivals and 09 departures |
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| WHERE | The official viewing area of San Diego is located at the “N Harbor Drive”, next to the water. You don’t really need a car as the hotels are pretty close and you can walk from the Downtown within 15-30 min along the boardwalk to this place. In the case you arrive by car, you can park there for free. |
| WHAT | Arrivals on runway 27, if they aren’t too low (then they will fly behind the fence = no picture possible). Apart from this late departures on runway 09 should be okay.
On the other site of “N Harbor Drive” there is the San Diego Coast Guard Base, where you can get some interesting helicopters. |
| TIME | Best time begins in the late morning until evening. You’d have backlit all day for the helicopters (except early mornings and late evenings, but this depends on the angle, too), that’s why cloudy days are better here. |
| MISC. | Hotels and fast food restaurants are within your reach.
This spot is quite tricky and difficult. Due to the busy road next to the approach, heat haze can be a BIG problem. Apart from this, the fences are pretty high. If planes are approaching very low, they will be behind them, so you won’t be able to take pictures. Line-Ups aren’t really possible anymore from here due to the (new) fence. The best way is to use the containers/bins as or even with an extra ladder, then you might be lucky and can take “good” pictures. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | Arrival: A320/737 = 180mm Ground: A330 = 70mm |
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Spot #2 – W Laurel St – 27 arrivals |
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| WHERE | This spot is located along the sidewalk of “West Laurel Street”, which connects “North Harbor Drive” and “Pacific Hwy”. As mentioned, this spot isn’t an exact position, rather the area along the sidewalk, depending ont he angle you like the most! The example shots and the overview picture were taken exactly from the marked spot (on the map) just next to a zebra crossing, which is new and cannot be seen on Google Maps yet. |
| WHAT | Arrivals on runway 27. |
| TIME | Best time begins in the late morning until evening. |
| MISC. | You find some motels and some stores (like Seven Eleven or Jack in the Box) nearby. No ladder needed.
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| FOCAL LENGTH | 50 – 400mm |
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Spot #3 – Waterfront Park – 27 arrivals |
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| WHERE | Just search a parking lot around the harbor or the San Diego Country Administration Center. Go to the north west end of the Waterfront Park. You’ll find some steps at West Grape Street where you can stand and take the pictures. This spot is an alternative to spot #2, but due to the bigger distance spot #2 is almost always better!
For route guide systems: West Grape St. Public Bus: Grape St. & Pacific Hwy. |
| WHAT | Arrivals on runway 27. |
| TIME | Late mornings or in the evening hours. During midday this spot isn’t really good due to heaty air. |
| MISC. | You find some motels and some stores (like Seven Eleven or Jack in the Box) nearby. Heat haze might be a big problem due to the busy “West Grape St” infront of you. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 300mm for B737, 200mm for B787 |
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Spot #4 – Liberty Station NTC Park |
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| WHERE | Drive from Photo-Point 1 on North Harbour Drive to direction Airport. After 3 km turn left to the Spanish Landing NTC and park your car. It´s a nice park directly at the water to relax under the trees or jump into the water from the very tiny “beach”. |
| WHAT | Takeoff shots from runway 27 and 09 arrivals. |
| TIME | From Morning 10 to late afternoon. Due to the distance it is not the best place in the summer because of the heat distortion. |
| MISC. | Hotels and fast food restaurants are within your reach, just westwards of your location. No ladder needed |
| FOCAL LENGTH | From 330 mm to 600 mm (A330 340mm / E175 600mm) |
Are there any night spotting locations?
There is a parking Garage at Kettner Blvd/West Laurel St. Might be possible to see the line up from there but I am not really sure.
-Julian
Ok, so, if you are looking for a place to see the touchdown point along 27, go to the FedEx Gateway. Park along that area. Best during weekends.
I went once, but its kind of a strugle because of the fedex planes that might be parked there, you need to check your radar before going
Just an update, they just opened up a rental car terminal on the north side of the field. Haven’t checked it out yet but probably can get some pics from it.
Unfortunately upper level with awesome view is off limits to the public.
Any help would be appreciated ,will be driving down from LAX and will in the area spotting and taking photos for the day ,can anyone tell me if it would at all be possible to use the following parking garages Aladdin Airport Parking or Laurel Airport Parking or should we stay at the viewing car park as mentioned in the article above .
thankyou in advance
Darryn UK spotter
Hi Darryn,
you can park at the official viewing area but you should stay next to your car and not leave it. Otherwise there are plenty of parking lots along the harbour drive.
Regards
Julian
Thank you for the prompt repy , Julian
hey guys is somebody around here who cant sport a very special plane tomorrow pls contact me as fast as possible and i will let you know whats due into san diego
Another location for departures or arrivals when runway 9 is in use for departures is at a park and along some of the trails right on the other edge of the water touching runway 9. NTC Park 2455 Cushing Rd. San Diego, CA 92106 is the address. The closer you get to the east of the park, the better the views!
Thanks for this hint Cole! But it seem that this direction is not really often in use.
Do you mean runway 27 departures, Cole?