By Shannon Handy / CBS8/ July 6, 2026
(slighted edited for clarification)
Visitors to Mission Bay now have to walk further to find a public restroom, as the city began 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. [and just plain locals.]
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 Carmel
- Ventura Point
- Bonita Cove East
- Hospitality Point
- Vacation Isle West
- South Shores
- North Cove
- Crown Point South
- Ski Beach North
- Ski Beach Middle
- Tecolote North
- Playa Pacifica III
- De Anza South
Additionally, seven of the 14 portable restrooms on Fiesta Island will also be removed temporarily.
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.
4-8 of those middle managers could have tidied this mess. Or even some from the tourism authority?
According to the San Diego Tourism Authority, visitors spent approximately $14.4 billion throughout San Diego County during fiscal year 2025, supporting more than 200,000 jobs and making tourism the region’s second-largest industry. Between 75 and 80 percent of visitor spending occurred outside of hotels.
https://www.sandiegoville.com/2026/07/san-diego-approves-445-million-to.html
This didn’t have to happen. Something like 15 million tourists and residents, about 100,000 a day, visit Mission Bay Park. Public restrooms are more than a convenience. They’re as much about health and safety. Just like police and fire. And, how would you like to be a nearby restaurant or store when beach goers are desperately searching for a restroom?
The Golf Enterprise Fund reportedly has $5.5 million in cash. 7 shoreline restrooms were saved by borrowing funds from it. The city-owned courses are generating enough cash that they can fund operations and maintenance from it. The reserves can temporarily be repurposed. Can they spare $546,000? In many ways Mission Bay Park is the front door to San Diego. But 13 of them are now locked. Shameful.
I suppose the City of San Diego is in for a hard lesson when they realize that humans will just pee in the bushes when a toilet is not available. A few years ago, I drove through New Mexico and pulled over to use their toilet facility, only to find it locked and un-attended, and then I smelled the alternative. By punishing the citizens of San Diego for not approving the outrageious proposed tax on vacant homes, Toad Glorious has ordered closer of toilet facilities at 50% of the restroom locations on Mission Bay and all the portapotties on Fiesta Island. When Mission Bay begins to stink as bad as those New Mexico road stops, how does Toad Glorious propose to clean up our park?
How about More tot tax on hotels, airbnb, and vrbo and other visitor fees if they want to visit Americas finest city and use public services we can use the $$$$. Plus ADU surcharges.
Couldn’t have let 2 or 3 middle managers go? Some of those locations are quite far from each other. Nearly a mile between Tecolote South and Playa Pacifica II is crazy. So many kids at nice play structures. Nothing at South Shores? It’s peak summer with vistors from everywhere – just check license plates. SD has to do better as its an embarrasement.
This city’s priorities are way out of phase.
No talk about closing public showers
I see kids pushing the shower button over and over again…
How about turning off public showers?,
North Pb law st, in front of Capri, Fanuel st park…and everywhere, beach peeps don’t “need” a shower, but they need to pee and poop,
Or are we dogs now?
San Diego County takes water samples weekly to measure bacteria levels at beaches and bays, including around Mission Bay. Today 3 Mission Bay beaches have been determined to have unhealthy (Yellow) levels of Enterococcus (human waste) bacteria.
Imagine the effect of having half the restrooms around the bay closed.