The water’s fine in San Diego — especially this time of year, when the boating and water sports seasons are in full swing. Throughout this month, the San Diego Community Newspaper Group is featuring several articles on the summer’s local surf and turf action. So grab your swimsuit and sunscreen and dive in to our August entries; they’ll help illustrate why San Diego is such a great place to play! La Jolla is known as “the Jewel” for many reasons, but for dedicated ocean aficionados the term refers to the emerald, aquamarine and sapphire waters off the coast. The coastal topography runs the gamut, from rocky ledges and caves best explored via kayak to crystal-clear waters washing over white sand, where the lucky can spot sand dollars nestled on the bottom. Harmless leopard sharks cruise the shallows each summer, their striped bodies moving gracefully, while Goldfish Point is named for the glittering garibaldi — California’s state fish — that shine among the rocks and sea grasses of the Cove. La Jolla is home to world-renowned swimmers (several English Channel crossers among them), surfers and divers, as well as the hang gliders and paragliders who float over the cliffs at Torrey Pines and the scientists who study marine life at the famed Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Scripps operates the Birch Aquarium, which brings visitors eye to eye with interesting and odd creatures from oceans around the world. The aquarium’s largest display is a huge kelp forest tank that shows the many fish, sharks and sea plants that can be found in this area but aren’t usually encountered by the casual swimmer. Those who wish to not only observe abundant sea life but swim with it can dive at the La Jolla Ecological Reserve, a protected sanctuary. From the famed surf break at Windansea, home of the Pump House Gang immortalized in Tom Wolfe’s book to the rocky Cove, haven for divers and long-distance swimmers, around La Jolla Point to the flat sands of the Shores to the majestic cliffs of the Torrey Pines State Reserve, La Jolla offers a smorgasbord of water-related activities. So help yourself and take the plunge! Pacific Beach and Mission Beach are neighborhoods of homes sitting on a backyard of water; their own simplistic names sum up their watery core. Surfers hit the beaches from Tourmaline through Crystal Pier, down to Mission Beach for the morning swells. Tourists flock to the area for the hot sands and cool water in the summer. Vacationers sleep over Crystal Pier, and in large RVs off Mission Bay. Those with boats, yachts, sails and skis cruise Mission Bay, around Fiesta Island and Vacation Isle and out into the open ocean. Longtime residents kayak the bay like an 18-hole golf course, and newcomers tip their sailboats off the shores of the Catamaran. The Bahia Belle, a Victorian-style sternwheeler, cruises guests across the calm bay waters at night. SeaWorld sparks the imagination with its display of mammoth marine animals and wakes up the neighbors with nightly fireworks shows in the summer. Fiesta Island is the last of the no-man’s-land where residents pull up to barbecue in sand dunes and a tradition of softball and revelry continues. In the hot sun of August, the residents of Pacific Beach and Mission Beach spend their days in the backyard. San Diego’s marine playground also includes the Peninsula communities of Point Loma, Ocean Beach and Shelter Island — each with its own identity, charm and allure. Water sports and activities abound in the summer. At the Ocean Beach Pier, the longest municipal pier on the West Coast at 1,971 feet, this 43-year-old platform is the perfect venue for snapping up fare from the shimmering Pacific Ocean. Prepare to grab your tackle box as we explore not only pier fishing but charter boat fishing excursions from beautiful Shelter Island. Point Loma is also home to excellent tidepools to satisfy the curious and bring young and old alike closer to nature. This same spectacular location below the lighthouse at the west end of Point Loma is perfect for catching sight of gray whales in the winter. And summertime isn’t just for people. Dog Beach in Ocean Beach allows our four-legged friends to mingle freely with their own kind and create special bonds with their human counterparts.