I had such a fantastic time on the Encinitas Food Tour with Sue! We kicked things off with warm…read moredonuts that I'm still dreaming about. The tacos we had were incredibly flavorful and totally hit the spot. And the ice cream... easily my favorite part. All natural, homemade, and you could genuinely taste the love that went into it. Sue was warm, welcoming, and made the whole experience super fun. Strolling through downtown Encinitas, learning little tidbits about the area, and sampling amazing food made for such a great day! Highly recommend this tour to anyone looking for great eats and a great time!

Ben, our guide, was super friendly, knowledgeable and accommodating. He is affiliated with…read more Carlsbad Food Tours which we also did and loved. All the samples were delicious, used quality ingredients and weren't too filling, including the beer stop. The walking was fairly easy, but definitely wear comfortable shoes. Encinitas is a hidden gem! In addition to the food, Ben also gave us intriguing facts and history which really enhanced the experience. The downtown area has interesting artwork and looked very clean overall. It was bustling due to the Memorial Day weekend but it wasn't annoyingly crowded at all. We really didn't have to wait to be served anywhere. I highly recommend this tour!

Despite being a California native, I've never been to a California Welcome Center, despite living…read moreto much closer ones. We wanted to stop by for a restroom break and to stretch our legs and eat some of our snacks before making our final voyage to San Diego and we saw the welcome center when we turned out of the freeway. Definitely stop here over a regular rest stop or fast food joint. We came in around 15-20 minutes before they had to close and all the ladies working there were super friendly, welcoming, answered all of our questions. Restrooms are super clean and smells nice too. They have a sign in sheet for visitors, lots of brochures for nearby attractions, an entire car inside for photos, lots of neat bits and pieces of history of the area and sights to see including info about pro-skater Tony Hawk, the surfboard museum or something nearby, and much more. Lots of neat gifts and trinkets for you to take back on your trip too. There's also books, and goods made by local artists. My friend from Texas got a cute kitchen towel with the art of all the animals and such from California. Cute! There's a discount corner and everything is reasonable and affordable. At the side there's also someone posted there to assist you with booking hotels and I'm sure other things like tickets to events or attractions, I'm sure. Going here has inspired me to eventually visit the other Welcome Centers too!

One of the things I love to do when traveling is to visit the local welcome center and I find…read moremyself always looking got them when away from home, so I was super excited to find that Oceanside has a Welcome Center! Yippee! The last one I went to was in Ventura and that was also fabulous! This Welcome Center is smaller than the one in Ventura but it was very solid! The two ladies that helped me today were sweet and knowledgeable. Since it's gonna hella rain the next couple of days, I asked for some indoor suggestions and they both were well prepared to answer my questions! One lady even pulled out a handout that had many rainy day activity sessions! I was pointed to go visit the Mission San Luis Rey, which I promptly did later and it did not disappoint but also got plenty of indoor suggestions like a vintage market to check out, go to the mall and go to the movies (I will probably do all of these things and more!). I also loved that they had very informative magazines, brochures for North Coast, and all of Cali and other states too! I was in heaven with all this information! Definitely give this place a visit if you like doing research on your travels! I loved it!

This food tour was the perfect amount of sunshine, art installations , coastal views, tasty food,…read moredelicious pizza, 5 star chocolate and all the tastings/stops were amazing! The choices were fun and it was a great way to mingle with other like minded foodies!! I'd recommend it for both locals and vacationers!

We had such a fantastic time on the Laguna Beach Walking Food Tour by California Coastal Food…read moreTours! It's so exciting to finally have a food tour in Orange County--and this one truly exceeded expectations. Our guide Ben is the best in the business. Not only is he a chef, but his knowledge of food, local history, and Laguna Beach's art scene made the entire experience memorable. His enthusiasm was contagious, and he really elevated the tour. The walk through Heisler Park to The Royal Hawaiian, with its gorgeous ocean views, was the perfect lead-in to the restaurant and could not have been timed more perfectly. The food stops were outstanding and offered a wonderful variety: - Carnitas taco with slow-roasted pork that was full of flavor. - White Mushroom Pizza with garlic aioli, roasted mushrooms, spinach, and thyme. One of the best slices I've had! - This was the highlight of the tour and my personal favorite. The Hawaiian BBQ Pork Ribs with homemade coleslaw and pineapple were heavenly and served as the main entrée. Paired with their signature Chief Lapu Lapu cocktail--light and tropical--it was perfection. The ambience and vibe of the restaurant added so much to the experience. - sandwich packed with Italian meats, cheeses, and sun-dried tomatoes. Absolutely delicious. - Ended on a sweet note with Chocolate Sea Salt Truffle and Smoke on the Water gelato, both incredibly rich and unique. This is hands-down one of the best food tours I've ever experienced. Highly recommend it to locals and visitors alike--come hungry and ready for a fun, flavorful adventure!

We booked the Coast to Country Wine Tour and had the best time. Hayley was our tour guide and super…read morefun. She was extremely knowledgeable, personable, and generous with her wine pours. Our group felt so comfortable and at ease with her behind the bottles and the wheel. We started out at Carruth venturing all their different bottles, and made our way to Ofilia in Escondido. Hayley prepared us some great personal charcuterie boxes to enjoy. We had a ton of fun and would highly recommend booking for any occasion.

David was our wine tour guide and let me tell you, that man is a LEGEND. Our group of 7 had the…read morebest time and he made the whole day very fun and engaging. We laughed the entire time and he went out of his way to make it a special day for all of us. He was flexible and let us take our time at each location until we were ready to wrap it up and move on to the next. My husband and I have been members at Carruth for several years, but this was our first time doing the van tour. I'd highly recommend it for an easy and fun day across San Diego - and definitely request David if you want to have a good time!

Easy to buy tickets, time are clearly posted for next train. I hope they will redo the area, new…read morebenches, bathroom and maybe a small store. Plenty of parking which is nice, we've been taking the train to SD to avoid parking there.

This railroad station in Downtown Carlsbad serves the Coaster computer rail line between Oceanside…read moreand Downtown San Diego. It has a single side platform for the single set of tracks that go through Carlsbad. Overall, I think this is a very nice station. North County Transit District buses also stop here, most importantly in my book, Route 101 that runs on Historic 101 between Oceanside and UTC in La Jolla. There are over 400 parking spaces at the station, which is a short walk to restaurants, coffee shops, retail shops, and more. The Carlsbad Village station is not the historic Carlsbad station that was used by Santa Fe Railroad until 1960. That station still stands about 1/10th of a mile south.

This charter was spectacular. We have been celebrating our late dad's birthday for the past 20…read moreyears with fishing charters in San Diego, and this one was by far the best. The crew was incredibly attentive. I never had to ask for assistance because someone was always there before I even had the chance. It was unexpected and very much appreciated. The woman serving food and beverages also made a point to check in throughout the trip, which really stood out. We caught a lot of fish, and the experience was seamless from start to finish. The briefing at the beginning was quick, clear, and efficient, so we had our poles in the water right away. Highly recommend this charter and crew. An unforgettable experience.

We chartered the SoCal and couldn't be happier. Our group has done this a few times now and whether…read morewe get on the bite or not, the crew gives us an epic experience from Brian in the wheelhouse to Ava cookin' grinds in the galley. The deckhands (pinhead included) were awesome. Especially helping the kids and less experienced anglers. Love this boat and this crew! Also much appreciation to the squad behind the counter at Oceanside Sea Center as well. We are grateful for the availability, flexibility, and ease of setting up and running this trip. Can't wait until next year. And we did get on the fish this time. Every angler got bent

We attempted to book with Baja Border Tours for a day trip into Baja Mexico. West was unavailable…read moreduring our trip, but he made sure we were taken care of by referring us to Uncle Jose--and that worked out perfectly. After a quick and easy walk through customs, Uncle Jose met us right across the street and got the day started smoothly. He was friendly, knowledgeable, and made us feel comfortable right away. He guided us through a mix of local shops and restaurants, then gave us the flexibility to visit the spots we specifically wanted. We made our way to Puerto Nuevo for lobster, which absolutely lived up to the hype, and of course stopped at Restaurante Caesar's--the birthplace of the Caesar salad--which was a highlight of the trip. Uncle Jose took great care of us throughout the day and made the experience easy and enjoyable. If you are able to walk across the border and walk back or take a $10 shuttle back into the US, ask for Uncle Jose a warm and knowledgeable local that will take great care of you. Highly recommended if you're looking for a fun, safe and stress-free Baja adventure!

We hired West as our driver for a 4-day bachelorette trip in Mexico, and I can confidently say he…read morewas one of the best parts of our experience. From the moment we met him, we felt SO safe, taken care of, and genuinely welcomed. West's kindness, professionalism, and deep love for the area and its people truly stood out. He was always ready with helpful tips, local recommendations, and a warm smile--not just for us, but for everyone we came across. He went above and beyond in so many ways: arranging an extra driver to help with our luggage, assisting with last-minute errands, and even being our unofficial group photographer before events. Traveling somewhere unfamiliar can be a little nerve-wracking, but knowing West would be there to drop us off and pick us up made us feel so much more comfortable. His presence gave us peace of mind, and we were able to enjoy ourselves fully knowing we were in such good hands. If you're looking for someone trustworthy, kind, and incredibly reliable, West is your guy. We're so grateful for everything he did for us and would recommend him a thousand times over!

Amazing! TastePro is a dining adventure that transformed our date night! Our first TastePro tour…read more(and I say first, because there will be more!) was the North park Deluxe 4-Stop Tour. It is ALOT of food (and one stop was just cocktails!). You won't go hungry. We highly recommend giving TastePro a try! The Detailed Review: TastePro is a year-around version of restaurant week. You book a tour, which includes a prefixed menu and multiple reservations. I note reservation, because the full-service stops, don't want to loose a table during the dinner rush. For our North Park Tour (on a Saturday), Encontro required we arrive before 6PM or after 8:30PM. The other 3 stops didn't have time restrictions allowing us to swing by at any time. Each restaurant has a prefixed tasting menu that you should review when booking. The restaurants on our tour didn't have a printed "TastePro" menu, so I recommend knowing what you want before or having the menu page readily available on your phone. ProTip: Half way though I took screenshots of the prefixed menus. It was easier than scrolling and switching between screens. When we arrived at our fist stop, we told the hostess we were here for a TastePro tour. She looked at us confused (we were worried for a hot second) but she asked a more experienced co-worker who knew how to handle our reservation. We shared our email confirmation (date and party size) and a photo ID that matches the name on the reservation. We had zero hiccups, just a note that you may need to talk to a seasoned employee as this is a newer service. We were quickly seated and ordered our tasting meal. Our reservation included drinks (you can preorder 1 drink per individual) at an incredible value. Our preordered wine allowed us to select any glass of wine on the menu. The food was amazing. At Encontro we had the Hot Fresh Bread, Mini Corndog, Portobello Fries, & Crispy green beans; at 619 Spirits, we each ordered a flight of cocktails; at Crazee Burger, the Pastrami Slider with a side of Onion Rings & the Caesar salad with a side of sweet potato fries; at Figaro Dessert Cafe, the Signature House made Nutella Crepe *OMG*, and two scoops of Gelato. SO MUCH FOOD. And did I mention it was all amazing? After enjoying your meal, you just get up and leave. It was a strange feeling to leave a full service restaurant without paying (you already paid!). At the same time, prepaying was freeing and makes visiting multiple restaurants a breeze! In Summary, TastePro is provides an incredible dining adventure at an extraordinary value (how often can you put put those words in the same sentence!?!). My fiancee and I were over the moon with our TastePro experience and highly recommend to anyone who loves great food and is looking for a new adventure. Cheers!

This would have been so much better if the restaurants had a clue what the program was. Spending an…read moreevening convincing and showing them what we bought wasn't fun. Food options were good at two restaurants but the last option was a waste.