Fun activities can be found everywhere and anywhere. People just have to be creative and hungry for adventure.

It may seem like much of the fun of living in San Diego can’t be had until after your 21st birthday. However, there are all kinds of fun things to do on and off campus before you reach that milestone. Many of these are basic ideas, but you can take them and run with them.

Buildings on campus

It is easy to always go to class, but that means missing out on exploring larger parts of the campus. Take time after class to go into a random building and just walk around. There are secret stairways, quiet basements, quirky art galleries and even a small planetarium. So many things are available to students who break the normal routine. Plus, exploring campus can be a really fun activity to go do on a long, boring day.

“I found a swirly staircase by the art building because I was just walking my dog around campus,” Kaylea Huhn, a liberal studies junior, said.

Another activity could be making it a goal to take pictures by every mural on campus. This could be something to do in one day, or something to be attempted over the course of a whole semester. The point is to have fun with it! There are murals all around campus. Sometimes some of the old ones are redone by students with new ideas. This could be a fun scavenger hunt to do with friends. Good luck finding them all!

Speaking from experience, watching the sunrise on top of a parking structure with a great group of friends is a fun event. This activity is super easy as well because all there is to it is going onto a parking structure on campus and parking there with friends. Staying up till sunrise is the only hard part. Snacks are always a good idea. And obviously, do not attempt this activity before an important test or some other event that sleep will be necessary for.

Hiking

Hiking is an option for someone who is looking for something a little more active. San Diego has many more hiking trails and mountains to explore than people give it credit for. The obvious choice is Cowles Mountain, but finding other hikes is not hard. There are waterfalls in San Diego as well if someone goes looking for them. Hiking is a way to get off campus and outdoors with friends to make some fun memories.

“I went to Torrey Pines to go on a hike because there was water at the bottom, which was perfect for a hot day,” Halle Logan, a kinesiology junior, said. “The hike was good and not that hard because it was more of a trail.”

Going to the beach may be an activity that’s a little overdone in San Diego, but there are ways to make each beach trip unique. No one has to go tan on the beach and have that be the only thing they do. People ride bikes or longboard on Mission Beach boardwalk all the time. This can be really fun even if people don’t have bikes because there are motorized scooters or public bikes people can pay to use. The boardwalk also has food and unique trinkets to look at.

“I’ve ridden a scooter on Mission Beach boardwalk before, but I also really like surfing there,” Huhn said. “There’s a lot of really cool people who help you and when there’s a break in the waves out there, it’s so surreal.”

Beach

Another activity to do, involving a beach, is to go to Sunset Cliffs for a sunset picnic. Whether someone goes single or in a group, the view is beautiful and it’s an easy way to have an enjoyable night.

“I went to Sunset Cliffs specifically for the sunset and it was super pretty,” Logansaid. “I also got to take my friends from out of town and it was really fun showing it to them.”

Other activities

If someone is looking for a more-exciting activity to do in the evening, then there is at least one club in San Diego that caters to the under-21 crowd. Bassmnt, located downtown, has plenty of 18-and-over concerts.. This venue has a very fun atmosphere and can be a really special place to be up close and personal with the act of the night.

Horse races in San Diego can also be attended by people under 21. This is an event a group of friends could dress up and go to for entertainment. The entrance fee is inexpensive as well.

These are just a few starter ideas, but San Diego holds so much for people who want new experiences. There other things like skydiving, hang gliding, paragliding, jet skiing and more active things to go do. On the other hand, there are book shops, coffee places, pet stores and other quirky places to check out.

Everyone can find their own adventure here in San Diego on or off campus.