An expert expat’s tips for San Diego, US
David Haigh and his family traded Sydney’s Randwick for southern California in 2021. David is the chief executive of the San Diego Legion professional rugby team, now on the top of the table. See sdlegion.com
See
San Diego Safari Park.
We have three young kids, aged three, six and nine, who love the San Diego Safari Park. It’s different to the world-famous San Diego Zoo, which is right in the hustle and bustle of the city. Twenty minutes out of town, the Safari Park has a calming, natural feel with African animals roaming in a massive expanse. You can jump in a safari truck and find yourself within touching distance of a giraffe, sdzsafaripark.org
Do
A beach city.
San Diego is a beach city, and while it’s a cliche to watch the sun set from the beach, there’s a reason for it – every night of the week, every car park along the coast is taken as even the locals are out watching the orange-gold hue that makes the sunsets spectacular here. You’ll see a whole procession of people with their beach chairs and their insulated Yeti cups filled with a craft beer or margarita heading to the beach. We take our kids to watch the sunset at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas, which has a village feel, with all its pubs and shops.
Eat
David Haigh
The dining scene takes its inspiration from the Mexican culture. It’s not the big, oversized portions and deep-fried food, it’s about really fresh seafood and great steak. The Taco Stand in Encinitas is our regular family spot. We’ll often grab a takeaway burrito or taco and drink to watch the sunset, letstaco.com But the city’s also got some amazing restaurants. Rare Society is a great restaurant in Solana Beach that serves incredible steak. It’s not your traditional US steakhouse. Their specialty is dry-aged meats sliced and placed on the table to share. The restaurant’s entire menu is delicious, but I can’t go past the parker house rolls and the ricotta ravioli to complement the meat boards, and the butter cake for dessert is worth the visit alone raresociety.com
Drink
San Diego is the craft beer capital of America, and arguably the craft beer capital of the world, and canned cocktails are not far behind. Kings & Convicts’ Legion lager is the favourite beer (and it’s also our team’s official beer) and it’s delicious. I don’t go to the same brewery too often because of the sheer number of them here – there are 150-plus – but Ballast Point, which is co-owned by an Aussie, is massive. They have a tap room in Little Italy where we played two-up on ANZAC Day after a ceremony held on the flight deck of the retired aircraft carrier the USS Midway, which is located here in San Diego. Being on the border, San Diego is heavily influenced by Mexico, so tequila is very popular among San Diegans and Seaborn, which makes flavoured margaritas, is our favourite canned cocktail brand, ballastpoint.com; seaborncocktails.com, midway.org
Avoid
Upon arriving in LA, get yourself down here as quickly as possible – the pace is more relaxed here, with less traffic. But perhaps avoid swimming in the ocean for three days after heavy rains. While such rain is rare here, pollution can run into the Pacific Ocean near San Diego after heavy rain. Every other day of the year provides perfect conditions for swimming, however - so not one to be too concerned about.
Thrive
Let yourself get into conversations. There are a lot of similarities between Sydney and San Diego in terms of climate and culture, but the friendliness of the people here is what really blows me away. It’s easy to meet people and to get into conversations (even without an ice-breaking Aussie accent) and we’re thriving because the people of San Diego have made us feel so welcome in our new home.
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