13 out of 28 public restrooms will be shut down by the end of this week due to budget restrictions.

SAN DIEGO — Visitors to Mission Bay will now have to walk further to find a public restroom, as the city begins closing nearly half of the facilities around the bay starting Monday, July 6. A total of 13 out of 28 public restrooms will be shut down by the end of this week due to budget restrictions, a move that many local visitors and business owners are criticizing. 



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The closures, which come after the 4th of July holiday, aim to save the city approximately $546,000, primarily from cleaning and maintenance costs. Affected restrooms include:

El CarmelVentura PointBonita Cove EastHospitality PointVacation Isle WestSouth ShoresNorth CoveCrown Point SouthSki Beach NorthSki Beach MiddleTecolote NorthPlaya Pacifica IIIDe Anza South

Additionally, seven of the 14 portable restrooms on Fiesta Island will also be removed temporarily. Click here to see a map of the beach and bay park restroom availability.

Local residents expressed their frustration over the decision. One visitor noted, “It’s so unfortunate because we come out here all the time in the summer – we just wanna be in the water and enjoy our beautiful city – so to have these bathrooms shut down is restricting on where we can go.” Another suggested that the city should explore other options to avoid this inconvenience.

Bradley Schnell, a nearby business owner and founder of the Mission Bay Park Conservancy, emphasized the importance of maintaining restroom access for the community. “Let’s be honest, the relative cost of keeping a restroom open in the scheme of a city budget is very small,” Schnell said. 

He mentioned that the conservation group is ready to collaborate with the city to find alternative solutions to keep the restrooms open, saying community members have already offered to donate money to help. “We need approval in order to be able to do these things…our goal right now is to engage with the city, work with them, and find ways to collaborate.”

Despite the city’s announcement, the timeline for reopening the closed restrooms remains uncertain, with no specified date given for when they might resume operations. 

Meanwhile, the city also reduced funding by $750,000 for its homelessness strategies, leading to the elimination of portable restrooms and security at four downtown locations.