Your surroundings pack more bars and restaurants per capita than any other San Diego neighborhood, a surf culture that took hold here in the late 1950s. PB was platted in 1887, the same boom year as Ocean Beach, as a resort destination served by the streetcar, and like Ocean Beach it evolved into something quite different from its intended identity. Through most of the twentieth century it was a working-class beach neighborhood; the postwar years brought a community of veterans, young families, and beach workers.
The surf culture that began filtering up the California coast from Hawaii in the late 1950s found fertile ground here, and Pacific Beach has been a surfing neighborhood ever since. Crystal Pier, visible from the boardwalk, is a 1927 wooden pier with small cottages built on its deck — a California State Historic Landmark where guests can rent the cottages and wake up to the sound of waves breaking directly beneath their floors. Garnet Avenue, running inland from the pier, is the commercial artery of PB: bars that open at 6am for the fishing crowd, surf shops, taco stands, and brunch spots that draw lines from across the county on weekend mornings.