Joining a Dolphin Stampede in San Diego
Todd Swank's Diary Entry for July 6, 2025
Miss Sheri and I went to San Diego for a weeklong family vacation at Mission Beach. We stayed somewhere so pretty it felt like a screensaver—if your screensaver came with sand in your sheets and a seagull that kept making direct, unsettling eye contact.
Luke joined us for the whole trip because he’s the kind of guy who hears “wild animals on a beach” and says, “Let’s get closer.” The sea lions at La Jolla Cove put on a full reality show, complete with a screaming crowd and surprise chase scenes—basically SeaWorld without the guilt or ticket prices.
We spent much of our time visiting a wide variety of beaches in search of tide pools—either San Diego’s hiding them or we’re just really bad at marine biology. Ocean Beach was mostly rocks, disappointment, and a few hippies who looked like they’d already claimed the best shells.
We finally found actual tide pools on a beach in Coronado—after scrambling over rocks sharp enough to void a shoe warranty. A little girl yelled she'd spotted three stingrays, and sure enough, there they were… just hanging out like they’d reserved the place on Airbnb.
We loved La Jolla Cove so much we went back three times—but not enough to participate in a cliff plunge. We passed the “Unstable Cliffs” sign, sure, but stopped short of the edge where the truly bold (or dangerously confident) were dangling over shark infested waters.
We really enjoyed visiting the USS Midway Museum—a giant floating maze of planes, stories, and ladders that double as quad workouts. Between the claustrophobic bunks and narrow hallways, I now fully respect every sailor who lived on this thing without losing their mind or accidentally becoming part of the ventilation system.
It was really cool visiting the bridge and getting a bird’s eye view of the ship—and imagining what it was like when this place was packed with jets, sailors, and real chaos instead of tourists and souvenirs.
Avery joined us on Wednesday, so we took him up the coast to Torrey Pines Gliderport—where friendly strangers tried to convince us that running off a cliff with a glorified picnic blanket was totally normal. It did look amazing… but knowing my luck, I’d be the guy who takes a left turn and ends up trending on a Coast Guard rescue page.
We had to introduce Avery to our new sea lion friends, since he also enjoys getting way too close to wild animals with no exit strategy. The nearby rookery had a 1,300-pound male they called “Submarine”—probably because if he charges, you're going under whether you like it or not.
The four of us went on a deep sea fishing trip near La Jolla Cove over the kelp beds—hoping to catch a bunch of fish and not embarrass ourselves. We nailed the first part with nearly 20 spotted bass… and I personally made sure no fish felt left out by letting most of them swim right past me.
Miss Sheri isn’t usually big on fishing, but she always jumps in with a smile—and for a while, she was flat-out dominating the leaderboard. She eventually had to take a little break to settle her stomach—sea conditions: 1, Miss Sheri: 0—but she bounced back like a champ.
Avery was doing great—he and Luke were reeling in spotted bass like it was their side hustle. Eventually we declared extra credit for catching anything not named “spotted bass,” and sure enough, they both pulled in baby barracudas. Adorable little killers, but not quite entrΓ©e-sized.
Luke was the big winner of the day, landing fish from three different species—including this beauty, a sheepshead. Must’ve been a hot catch, because the captain scooped it up faster than we could say “photo op.” He knew we weren’t keeping fish and said this one was headed straight to his dinner plate.
After the fishing trip, Avery and I hit the bay for some paddle boarding—he nailed it, of course, then headed off to boogie board with the locals while I stayed back like a worried lifeguard who forgot his whistle. I lost sight of him for a bit and mildly panicked… which is dad-speak for “started planning a coast-wide search and rescue.
On Thursday night, Abby finally joined us—completing the human portion of the family vacation. Now that everyone had arrived and roll call was done, the real fun could begin… assuming no one wandered off, got seasick, or tried to hug a sea lion.
Of course we had to take her to see the sea lions—mainly so she could take a nice photo of the four of us. I really liked how it turned out… but next time, we’ll ask someone else to take the picture so she can be in it also.
We saved our best adventures for last. Friday night we set off on a sunset whale watching cruise… hoping to spot whales, which of course meant we didn’t. But what we got instead was something even better: a front-row seat to one of those rare, unforgettable moments you don’t see coming.
Near the edge of the shelf—where the ocean floor drops from a polite 75 feet to a gaping 1200—we suddenly heard our naturalist get giddy. She said we were about to witness something rare. And then, like a surprise party thrown by the sea, a Megapod of Dolphins came stampeding straight toward us.
A megapod is defined as a group of more than 1,000 dolphins traveling together—and not only did we witness one, but they stampeded alongside our boat for more than 15 minutes. According to the naturalist, that kind of close-up encounter is incredibly rare. To us, it just felt like pure magic.
Saturday we tackled the world-famous San Diego Zoo—and yes, it lived up to the hype. We all showed up for the pandas, but walked away unexpectedly obsessed with the hippos. Turns out, 3,500 pounds of underwater swagger beats bamboo-munching fluff every time.
Like all good vacations, this one ended way too fast. We wrapped things up with a stroll through Mission Beach, Belmont Park, and a whole lot of people-watching. San Diego has officially made the “we’re definitely coming back” list… again.
@toddswank We had a fun encounter with the sea lions at La Jolla Cove. #sealions #lajolla ♬ original sound - Todd Swank
@toddswank My son took out the paddle board for the first time. While watching him drift out there, I started getting paranoid about something crazy happening. So I used AI to animate my imagination. He was fine. #paddleboarding #oceanfear #wasthatawhale? ♬ original sound - Missy Elliott
@toddswank Paddle boarding turned into surfing. #paddleboarding #surfing ♬ sonido original - π§‘ππͺπ¨πππππ£ππ©πππ€
@toddswank We ran into a mega pod of dolphins on our San Diego Whale Watching Cruise!! #megapod #dolphins #whalewatching #sandiego ♬ original sound - Todd Swank
