<p>^^ You reminded me of a few more activities -
- Whale watching (you already mentioned!)
- Take a fishing excursion offshore for the morning or multiple days (if one had lots of time)
- Go visit Catalina island - take the boat there and spend the day or stay the night
- In Long Beach visit the Queen Mary (and you can leave from here on a boat to Catalina as well)
- In San Diego - La Jolla - the ‘Children’s Pool’, actually a cove with a sea wall, has been taken over by sea lions so one can see plenty of them here frolicking in the water and laying on the beach and rocks (the ‘take-over’ is actually somewhat controversial - I used to snorkel here but can’t really anymore due to the sea lions)</p>