Chula Vista's main draw for visitors is the US Olympic and Paralympic Training Center, which offers free public tours of a working elite sports facility. The Living Coast Discovery Center on the bayfront is a zoo and aquarium set inside a national wildlife refuge — an unusual combination that makes it well worth a visit. The Chula Vista Bayfront, now anchored by the new Gaylord Pacific Resort, has been redeveloped with new parks, trails, and bay access. The Sweetwater Marsh is one of the few intact coastal wetlands remaining in Southern California, with exceptional birdwatching. The Sweetwater River Trail follows the lower river through riparian woodland connecting the eastern hills to the bay.
Inland, Otay Lakes County Park and Otay Valley Regional Park offer hiking and cycling through native chaparral. Heritage Park, Rohr Park, and the planned community of Eastlake offer quieter neighbourhood green spaces. The historic Third Avenue Village is the best place to understand Chula Vista as a real community, with the vintage Vogue Theater on the main street. At the eastern edge of the city, the Cerutti Mastodon site is associated with one of the most controversial discoveries in New World archaeology.