Lobster Season Opened Friday. At La Jolla Shores, the Lobster Stay Put.

California's recreational spiny lobster season opened at 6 p.m. on Friday, October 2, 2026, and runs through March 17, 2027. Along most of the Southern California coast, that date changes what happens in the water at night. Off La Jolla Shores, it changes nothing about what can be taken. The water off Kellogg Park sits inside the Matlahuayl State Marine Reserve. There, state regulations make it unlawful to "injure, damage, take, or possess any living, geological, or cultural marine resource."

That one rule shapes the Shores' whole October. Almost every event, program and small improvement scheduled around Kellogg Park this fall assumes that people come here to look at the ocean, learn about it and get into it, and that everything stays in the water. The season makes more sense read that way than as a list of separate happenings.

A Boundary That Predates Almost Everything Onshore

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife describes the area as a "hotbed of biodiversity." It is fed by cold, nutrient-rich water from the La Jolla and Scripps submarine canyons, and it shelters leopard sharks, garibaldi, nudibranchs, sea lions and California spiny lobsters. Part of that water has been protected since 1929, when it was known as the San Diego Marine Life Refuge. Today it falls within the San Diego-Scripps Coastal State Marine Conservation Area.

The two protected areas follow slightly different rules:

• Matlahuayl State Marine Reserve: no take of any kind.
• San Diego-Scripps Coastal SMCA: no take, except recreational hook-and-line fishing for northern anchovy, Pacific sardine, Pacific mackerel and jack mackerel. Lobster isn't on that list.
• Outside both boundaries: anyone going after lobster this season needs a Spiny Lobster Report Card, divers included. It must be reported by April 30 even if the holder never fished or caught anything.

The Log's September 10 guide to opening night told divers to check marine protected area boundaries before going in. At the Shores, that boundary runs along the beach where families set up their towels.

A Fall Calendar Built for Watching

Look at the Shores' October and November dates together and they share one assumption. Nobody is harvesting anything. The water is for surfing, swimming and studying.

Saturday, Oct. 3: Walter Munk Day. The day ran 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Kellogg Park, with ocean-science exhibits and anniversary programming. It took place yesterday.

Sunday, Oct. 11: Surfrider San Diego Surf-a-Thon. This is the first year for the event, which raises money for Surfrider San Diego's coastal-protection and community programs. Participants try to catch as many waves as they can on floaties, surfboards and bodyboards. The organizer's page lists check-in from 8 to 8:30 a.m., heats from 9 to 11:30 a.m. and awards until noon, at 8300 Camino del Oro. Entry was $40, and that page now shows ticket sales closed. The chapter's own events calendar currently shows nothing on Oct. 11, so check with the organizers before heading down. Organizers told the La Jolla Shores Association in May they expected 100 to 150 participants. The plan presented then put the event south of the lifeguard tower and north of the playground. The board approved the concept and asked organizers to look at moving north of the tower for more space and better surf. No final location has been published.

Friday, Oct. 23: Challenged Athletes Foundation clinics. The Shores Association voted unanimously to approve two adaptive surf and open-water swim clinics. Both run 9 a.m. to noon, with 30 to 40 participants expected plus volunteers and coaches. The San Diego-based nonprofit has used La Jolla Shores as a home base for its challenges and clinics.

Select weekends through December: Sunset Scripps Pier Walks. Birch Aquarium leads 90-minute tours of Ellen Browning Scripps Memorial Pier, which is usually closed to the public. The tours include plankton under a microscope and squid dissections. Times shift with sunset. Tickets are $35 for members and $40 for the public, and aquarium admission isn't included. Every participant must be at least 9, and reservations are required.

Starting Saturday, Nov. 7: Tidepooling Adventures. These 90-minute sessions for ages 6 and up meet at Scripps Pier or Kellogg Park depending on the day. They cover tide pool habitats and how to explore them without harming them. Tickets are $20 for members and $25 for the public.

Two of these events are about getting into the surf, and two are about learning what lives in it. Nothing on the list involves taking anything out of the water, which is what the reserve allows.

Benches for the People Who Suit Up There

The same approach shows up in a much smaller project on the grass. The Walter Munk Foundation for the Oceans has permission from the city's Parks & Recreation Department to add four wave-themed benches at Kellogg Park. Each costs $30,000. One is already funded, and the foundation is looking for three more $30,000 donations. The benches would go on the east side of the Map of the Grand Canyons of La Jolla, a 2,200-square-foot LithoMosaic with more than 100 life-size marine creatures. Similar wave-themed benches already sit on the map's west side and along the boardwalk.

Foundation president Mary Munk explained why that spot was chosen:

"Benches are at a premium at the beach, and that area of Kellogg Park (where the benches would go) is where scuba divers set up for their dives and where families like to get set up for a day at the beach, so we thought it would be nice to have benches there."

Munk said the benches will be bought and installed once all four are paid for, with a goal of finishing by the end of the year. The city will allow one or two bronze donor plaques on each bench. Any money left over will support field trips, docent walks and educational gatherings at the map. Asked about the foundation's focus on bringing students from underserved communities to the ocean, she said, "How can they care about something they know nothing about?" As of the Sept. 1 report, the fundraising was still underway. No completion has been reported since.

What Changed on Avenida de la Playa

The people the benches are meant for, divers and beach families, also walk up the street afterward. Two changes there landed this summer.

Casa Del Lobo opened Aug. 18 at 2246 Avenida de la Playa. It serves specialty coffee, matcha and locally made pastries, and the fall menu includes pumpkin spice, Mexican mocha and salted mocha drinks. The same space sells handcrafted ceramics made in Mexico, including large planters and fountains, and takes custom orders for residential and commercial projects. The café is open daily from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., and ceramics from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The shop is named after Buck, the dog belonging to La Jolla owners Saul Moreno and Christine Silver. "More than anything, we're excited to create a neighborhood space in La Jolla Shores that feels warm, design-forward, and a little unexpected," Silver told the La Jolla Light.

Barbarella Restaurant & Bar brought in Oakland native Shawn Washington as executive chef this summer. Management says he is adding meat and seafood dishes and taking the restaurant's wood-fired pizzas in a new direction. His San Diego background includes training at Waterbar and serving as executive sous chef at Ironside Fish & Oyster.

The Lot That Brings Everyone Here Is Still Under Debate

Every event on this calendar depends on people arriving, and many of them come through the Kellogg Park lot. Its 349 spaces were on the list of coastal lots in a city plan the Coastal Commission approved in June, with a 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. vehicle closure. The city's nighttime-closures page now shows that window applying year-round. Anyone planning a sunset pier walk followed by dinner on Avenida de la Playa should keep that closing time in mind.

Daytime pricing is less settled. On Aug. 26, the City Council's Rules Committee voted unanimously to advance an ordinance banning paid parking at city beaches and bays, narrowed so the guarantee covers only city residents. The committee also dropped the 2036 sunset date, and the ordinance covers Kellogg Park but not nearby on-street meters. Council President Joe LaCava said a two-tier system was unrealistic. "The Coastal Commission absolutely does not allow charging different classes of beachgoers different rates," he said. The committee also stressed that no paid parking proposal currently exists. The ordinance still needs final approval from the full Council. It did not appear on the Sept. 14 or Sept. 28 full Council agendas.

There is movement on the streets nearby too. On Aug. 24, the La Jolla Traffic & Transportation Board voted unanimously to support speed lumps on East Roseland Drive and send the request to the city. A separate request covering Prestwick, Dunaway and Calle del Oro is waiting on resident petitions.

At the Shores, the water rules were settled long ago. What's still being decided this fall is onshore: who pays to park, where the benches go and how fast cars move on the streets around the beach.

The Shores' protected water and its fall calendar are part of daily life near Kellogg Park, and they come up in our conversations with homeowners there. If you'd like to talk through how life near the reserve figures into your plans, Nelson Brother Team is glad to share what we're seeing. Let's Connect.