Sunny Jim Cave is the only one of La Jolla's seven sea caves accessible from land. The entrance is through a gift shop on Cave Street — pay the small admission, descend 145 wooden steps carved through the sandstone cliff, and emerge on a wooden platform overlooking a wave-carved cave with a direct ocean opening.
The cave itself is about sixty feet across and open to the sea at low tide. The light changes entirely depending on the time of day and the cloud cover — on a clear morning with the sun low, the cave glows blue from the reflected Pacific. The 1902 tunnel is the main curiosity above the cave: hand-chiselled through hard sandstone by one man over three years, it remains the original construction.
The gift shop above is cheerfully tacky, which adds to rather than detracts from the experience. La Jolla Cove is a five-minute walk south along the cliff path.