You can experience haunted San Diego locations and attractions. Don’t worry, most have rather harmless paranormal activity. The tours are fun, educational and a fun experience with friends. Tours and “scary” attractions are at the end of the post with links for tickets. NOTE: Post updated for 2021!
**Disclaimer**
Businesses highlighted are in no way an endorsement. They are simply resources our Savvy Cali Girl contributors have deemed worthy of a shout out. If you want us to tell our readers about your business, tag us with #savvycaligirl and we’ll check it out for future blog posts or updates to this post.
Old West Still Alive and Thriving in Old Town, San Diego
To know more about Old Town, San Diego skip over to our post, Why Old Town San Diego Is The Best for Historic Charm and Great Food.
What Is The Most Famous Haunted House in San Diego? The Whaley House!
In San Diego, the Old Town Whaley House has genuine, documented paranormal activity. It was built in 1857 by Thomas Whaley. In its 150 plus years, the home has had many purposes and owners. Today, it’s a registered landmark and part of San Diego’s history.
“Yankee Jim” or Santiago Robinson who famously hanged for grand larceny and Thomas Whaley himself are among the most likely ghosties hanging out here. Friends visited the house and took photos. They came back with with eerie orbs in the images and even a few “face looking” mists at the top of the stairs. Of course, they did not notice the anomalies during their visit but only in their photographs later.
Old Town Cosmopolitan Hotel
The rumors of haunted happenings at the Cosmopolitan Hotel have been urban legends here in San Diego. This building has a bar and restaurant with that fun saloon feel you’d expect from an “Old West” town.
The Cosmopolitan Hotel was actually originally the home of Don Juan Bandini. Ysidora’s ghost , Juan Bandini’s daughter, is said to frequent Room 11 where she stayed. The lights turn on and off and other little acts of mischief.
El Campo Santo Cemetery
Of course, every Old West town has a cemetery which is inevitably haunted, right? Well, El Campo Santo Cemetery in Old Town is no different.
Unfortunately, a portion of the graveyard was eventually paved over to build a streetcar line. After petitions, white crosses were painted into the sidewalks and streets to acknowledge the deceased.
These days, paranormal activity continues in these areas affecting car alarms or people unable to turn the ignition in their cars. There are also reports of shadow figures. I have not seen or experienced these shenanigans but plenty have!
While it may be one of the tinier haunted destinations in San Diego, it certainly has a long history. The San Diego Reader has a nice visit to this cemetery with lots of the historic dirty details of the poor souls buried there.
Spirits In and Around the Haunted San Diego Bay & Shores
Coronado’s Hotel Del Haunted Guests
There is a specific third floor room said to be haunted by Kate Morgan, a young lady who checked into the famous Hotel Del in 1892. She was expecting to meet her lover who never showed. A few days later she was found, having killed herself from a gunshot.
Apparently, she now plays with lights in her former room, turns the television on and off, unexplained breezes, footsteps and more. The “beautiful stranger” as she was nicknamed at the time of her death in the newspapers roams the hotel grounds, especially the gift shop and the beach areas.
If you’d like to know more, there is an entire book written and available from the Hotel Del. You can follow this link for a little more detail or purchase the book, Beautiful Stranger: The Ghost of Kate Morgan and the Hotel del Coronado.
Want to know more about Coronado, California? Just hop over to our post, What To Do When You Want To Chill Out In Coronado.
Star of India Spirits Still Sailing
Ever want to step aboard an old sailing ship? The Star of India in San Diego is the world’s oldest and is still active. She was born from the Isle of Man in 1863 and travelled to India six times with tragedy and disaster throughout her journeys including a mutiny, collision, and a cyclone.
After she was purchased by Shaw Savill line of London, she moved emigrants to New Zealand, making twenty-one year-long voyages. It saw its fair share of misery of course but the most well documented was that of an Army Captain who sliced his own throat after the loss of his platoon in India.
These days, the documented reports of footsteps and shadows have even been showcased on shows like Ghost Adventures on the Travel Channel. For more information about tickets or the history visit the San Diego Maritime Museum.
The U.S.S. Midway Attracts All Walks of Visitors
One of the main attractions along the San Diego Bay is the U.S.S. Midway Museum, a decommissioned aircraft carrier housing a huge collection of planes. It clocks in as one of those haunted destinations in San Diego naturally with paranormal activity in some of the usual ways.
What I found fascinating was the variety of entities on the Midway. There are former crewmen of course but also voices of entities asking what the name of this was, like they were a visitor themselves. Staff also mention a grandfatherly figure checking on family.
There have been paranormal investigations in the past but not any longer. Instead, the staff keep a log of any incidents reported by visitors or staff. Learn more about other instances via this link to their website.
Also consider a donation if you visit the site to support the museum. They host school field trips and numerous veterans related organizations who have special celebrations or ceremonies aboard the ship.
San Diego Waterfront Attractions Year Round
We recently visited the waterfront of Downtown San Diego and found lots of great places to see, activities, and stopped off at Carnitas Snack Shack. You can check out the area through this particular post for more ideas.
Things To Do To Experience a Haunted San Diego This Halloween
We have a some scary ways to enjoy Halloween this year. They are listed below with direct links to their websites.
Take A Haunted San Diego Tour
If you want to get a tour either by bus or walking tours, there are a number of fun options. The Haunted San Diego Tours offers several types of tours as does Ghosts and Gravestones. We provided direct links to their websites.
Ready To Scream?
Get your scare on and have a little fun this year!
Please note the most popular attraction, Haunted Trails in Balboa Park and Haunted Hotel is closed in 2020 due to social distancing restrictions. In 2021, it seems that this attraction is once again on hiatus. We’ll update this post if it changes of course.
2020 took this event in a different direction. It was located at the Del Mar Fairgrounds as a drive-thru attraction so that social distancing was taken into account. “At the Drive-Thru Scream Zone: Road Kill, the only roadside assistance coming to your aid is a triple threat of zombies, serial killers, and killer clowns.”
The Birch Aquarium is dressing up the outdoor spaces this year. Tide Pool Plaza, Smargon Courtyard, and the Education Courtyard are set up to allow the fun to continue, even if Birch Aquarium has to close its indoor spaces. It is geared for those ages 2 to 10. They will have “the opportunity to learn about and touch spooky creeps of the deep including slimy seaweed, several species of small sharks, and creepy, crawly critters like Sea Spiders. Also enjoy the Haunted Kelp Maze, explore what happens when a whale “falls”, and get up close with nautical nutrients, some of the tiniest critters at the aquarium.”
For tickets and additional information just click the links provided here.
