It was a beautiful day out in La Jolla, and I thought it would be a great idea to explore the Sunny Jim Sea Cave and shores. When I arrived at the cave entrance, I walked into a quaint shop with local handmade jewelry, trinkets and a small selection of clothing for sale. After I took a walk through the shop, I purchased a ticket ($5 for adults and $3 for children 16 and under) to walk down to the manmade tunnel. The tunnel took two years to make and was dug by two Chinese laborers in the early 1900s. From the ocean, you can enter any of the other seven sea-carved caves, but this is the only cave you can enter by land. The Sunny Jim Sea Cave store is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, with the cave closing 30 minutes prior to closing. Once I made my way past the entrance door, I began my descent down the 145 steps into the tunnel. Less than halfway down the steps, the stairway became slippery and narrower, and I found myself faced with a low ceiling – if you’re tall, make sure to watch your head. Once I made it to the bottom of the tunnel, I saw the light. The cave can give you a new perspective on the power of Mother Nature and her ocean waves pounding on the rock and sandstone for hundreds of thousands of years to carve out the cave. After I enjoyed some time in the cave, I made my way back up the tunnel and over to the shores and Children’s Pool. There were a number of sea lions, seals and sea birds sunbathing on the rocky cliffs and in the sand. With a number of onlookers, the La Jolla Shores are a great place to go year-round, especially on a beautiful day like today. Bianca Weinstein is the social media reporter for sdnews.com. This spring and summer, she will be exploring places on the coast and trying out fun things to do for locals and visitors. Contact her at [email protected].