Waking up to a sea view is always awesome. Sadly it was grey and cloudy this morning, but pretty nonetheless. We went out to the Truckstop cafe for breakfast, as recommended by the hotel. I had the hub pancakes with strawberry and blueberry - delicious but ginormous (I still have half left in the fridge!) - and Claire had the Simple breakfast - egg, hash brown and sugar syrup bacon. Delicious! After breakfast we took a slow walk down to the beach, tipped our toes in the ocean (which, was freezing) and watched the surfers before heading back to pick up the car.

We drove around the bay to Sea World, the last park on our SoCal passes. I loved Sea world as a kid - so much so that I wanted to study marine biology so that I could work there - and this was Claire's first trip so we were pretty excited despite all the bad press recently. First stop was the seals and we arrived just in time for feeding, so Claire bought some fish and fed the noisy seals! Then we went to the Seal and Otter show. This was actually really amusing! Very funny. The otter definitely stole the show!

After this, we went to the shark encounter. Now, last night we watched Jaws 3, which is set in Sea World, except we both fell asleep before the end and have no idea what happened (from memory the shark blew up sea world!), so we were a little nervous to enter the shark encounter! Luckily, there were no crazy great whites, but still some pretty big sharks. Eeek! We started off viewing from above and then went through the tunnel below. Awesome!

After surviving the sharks, we made our way round to the Shamu stadium for the whale show. This was amazing! They are just breathtaking! I have to admit it's not the same since the trainers aren't allowed in the water, but still awe inspiring. My favourite was the tiny (!) 6 month old baby swimming with her mum. She was so cute and joining in when she wanted. We had intended to attend this show once but it was repeated at 5pm and straight away Claire said that she wanted to go back a second time.

After the whale show we picked up some lunch. Again, we were surprised how good the food was. Claire had chicken rotisserie and I had soy and ginger salmon with sticky like rice and vegetables. Yum! After lunch we visited the tide pools, aquarium and sea turtles and then ride Manta twice as there was no queue. After going to Disney and Universal we weren't too worried about the rides but it seemed rude not to!

Next stop was my favourite place, the dolphin pool. I could watch them for hours and hours! They are the best. They were quite playful but not coming close to the edges so we didn't get to touch any. Never mind! Eventually we had to leave to make the dolphin show. The usual show wasn't running today but this one was great and also included pilot whales. The Orcas are so huge and beautiful but the dolphins are playful and it's great that the trainers are still allowed in the water with them. This was my favourite show!

After the dolphins we went to see the penguins. This was the first time I have seen emperor penguins. They have a special indoor enclosure that provides a similar environment to the South Pole so it is dark and freezing cold. Brrr! It was great to see them.

After the penguins we had half an hour to sit and watch the killer whales swimming around before going to watch the second show. The second show was actually slightly different and better than the first so we were glad we went back.

We were going to leave straight after the whale show but everyone had the same idea so we went back to the dolphin pool for a little while (turned into an hour!) whilst the crowds cleared. I am so glad we went back because the dolphins were really playful, jumping and interacting much more. Loads of people were getting to touch them but it seemed we were in the wrong place until right before they closed when two came by in close succession. We both stroked the first one and then I could just reach the second one. He stopped for ages and even rolled over for me to tickle his tummy. It was the best moment and I was so happy! It was almost like I worked at sea world ;-).

We had such a good day. It was really relaxing, warm in the sunshine and great seeing the animals. After a bit of a detour to get fuel, we returned to the resort and walked down to the bay in search of food. We ate in the restaurant last night and it was delicious but quite pricey. This time we tried to bar, which had a more reasonable menu, and shared the fish tacos and tomato and mozzarella flat bread. The food was delicious again, especially the fish tacos, which are a must have in San Diego. We even had room for dessert for the first time we've been here, so polished off a warm brownie, baked to order, with ice cream. Mmmm mmmm! Sat by a fire pit with a sea view (just) this was perfect. We finished eating just in time to get the complimentary paddle boat, the Bahia Belle, across the bay and back during sunset. It was so pretty with the sunset, the bay, the palm trees and the twinkly lights. A perfect end to the day! Now we're back in our room, listening the the sea and watching another classic, Jurassic Park, with a glass of vino. Cheers!

Day: 20

Miles: 3335