Sunny Jim Cave

I took my family visiting from Australia here, and it was one of the highlights of their trip. Fantastic history, and a must-​see in a beautiful setting.

The walk through the cave is much shorter that expected.
but a cool place to take pictures.
PS watch your step. It gets slippery

Worth the $ 5 per person for the experience of walking through the tunnel alone! Located in a cute little shop you will find a cool little tunnel!
I thought it would be a bit different once we got to the bottom based on the reviews. I thought it would be more of a place to walk around. It’s actually a square deck that’s pretty high up.
Seeing Sunny Jim was actually pretty cool! Crazy to think that the ocean created such a neat cave!
The Cave shop had some jewelry and clothes and San Diego/​La Jolla souvenirs. Not too bad priced either! They also sell water and other drinks!

La Jolla’s Gem. I can’t believe I didn’t discover this spot earlier. Its one of my favorite spots to bring people. Theres a small but long stairway that leads to the bottom of the cave where you’ll see the coolest silhouette of face. Its a perfect date stop or somewhere to clear your mind (if a lot of people aren’t there). Check it out if you’re in the area.

This little adventure was fun! You pay $ 5 per adult to walk down a long tunnel of stairs to a platform that sits sea level within the cave. Worth the money in my opinion!

Not necessarily worth the $ 5 in my opinion but it’s a pretty good photo spot in terms to say you’ve been there.

Slightly disappointing. Paid less for parking than entering this «cave», it’s just a set of incredibly wet stairs that takes you to a lookout. You’re better off kayaking into the cave, however, don’t regret it as the surrounding area does offer plenty of walking and sight seeing

I first heard of this place while on a kayak tour of La Jolla years ago. The guide was telling us about a cave that was used back in the day for drinking and partying back during prohibition. I never thought much of it again.
After having brunch in La Jolla my fiancée and I were walking around the area and stumbled upon the store that has the entrance to Sunny Jim’s Cave. We looked around saw the entrance and thought… why not?
Walking down the the steps made feel like I was in an Indiana Jones movie. You can definitely tell it’s been around a very long time and been well traveled. There weren’t too many sketchy spots but you definitely need to walk slow and be aware of your footing. Once you make it to the water the view is one of a kind. Looking around and thinking about all the wild parties and famous people who were here before was a trip.
If you are in La Jolla and want to explore this is really a cool spot check this out. It can be dangerous so I wouldn’t have too many cocktails beforehand.

If you have $ 5 and really would rather do something with it besides grab a bite to eat or donate it to the hungry, I guess you could visit this cave. It would’ve been more fun going with a kid maybe; they’d find going into a cave, period, amusing and adventurous. For me, there was no real excitement walking down and up those steps. The view… uh, pull up one of the photos of the opening on your tablet or get real close to the computer monitor, THERE, you’ve seen it. I preferred climbing the rocks outside the SJC Store and taking in the view of the ocean, cliffs, and sea lions.
Final thought? I could’ve gotten over a gallon of gas with that money =/​haha

A cave is a cave is cave… the admission is $ 5 and it’s a little underwhelming. You enter through a gift shop and then walk down (and back up) a very steep and narrow staircase. There’s a viewing platform at the bottom. There’s a nice view out onto the water but there’s not much else after that. If you didn’t have to pay for this I would have given it a higher rating. *shrug*

You can’t get much for $ 5 in upscale La Jolla so this little attraction is a bargain!
$ 5 for adults
$ 3 for children
You start your descent into the cave from the old time gift shop and in about 7 – 8 minutes you are at the opening. A great view of the ocean and shoreline greets you which is silhouetted by a profile of a mans face… aka Sunny Jims!
The cave is over 100 years old and dug by Chinese fishermen to smuggle alcohol during prohibition.
A little history lesson, great photo op, and trip back in time for only $ 5! Great time!

The beach is stunning at La Jolla Cove and its peculiar-​shaped cave is awesome. I thoroughly enjoyed the creepy walk down the long stone staircase to the cave’s opening. I felt like Harry Potter when he was banned from visiting Hogsmead and found a secret tunnel with a long staircase inside Hogwarts that lead him right to the Honeydukes cellar! But beware, the walk back up is nothing short of an Insanity workout (my thighs burned like hell halfway back up). The only thing you see when you look out of the opening of the cave is the sky meeting the magnificent blue ocean. The rest of the cave is dark, wet, and clamy.
Adults fee is $ 5 and child fee is $ 3. I think it’s worth it :)

We paid $ 10 for two people for this?
It’s about 150 steps down into the cave area.
The stairs are steep, wet and the ceilings are low.
There are blood-​sucking bats that hang from the ceiling and giant hissing cockroaches that carpet the steps.
Just kidding.
But at least that would have made the descent more fun and worth the $ 5.
The most time you’ll spend is 10 minutes on the wooden deck looking out at the cave entrance.
Trust me, we tried to spend as much time looking at the entrance as we could. We even looked in slow motion to get our money’s worth!
And the view? Look at all the pictures on Unilocal.It’s not magically any better in real life.

It will cost you $ 5 to check out Sunny Jim Cave. It is probably good to know that this is not a place to go spelunking. You’re not going underground and exploring intricate cave systems. You are simply walking down some steps, and quickly ending up at an opening to the ocean. The opening happens to be shaped like some guy’s profile, which I thought was very neat and a great photo-​op.
Based on older reviews, it seems the entry fee used to only be a dollar back in 2010. $ 5 may seem like they’re asking a lot for such a quick trip down to ocean level, but you can stay for as little or as long as you want. Not to mention, you’re supporting a unique local attraction, so I don’t see it as a waste of money at all… it’s only $ 5! I found it relaxing to hear the ocean waves crashing into the cave. It may not be a spot you’ll want to visit more than once, but it’s definitely worth checking out! If anything, you’ve got yourself a cool photo.

This is nice to see if you’ve never seen it. A really short walk to the bottom– 5 mins you will be at the bottom– you are nside the cave looking out through the crack of the cave. You can’t go walk around on the sand or rocks down below as I was hoping for, you reach the end but are held back by the fence to keep you from exploring. Water comes rushing in, if you’re lucky you get to see a sea lion swimming around the vicinity of it. Stairs get wet as you are going down and the ceiling is low so tuck your head down as you start coming close to the bottom.
It’s 5 bucks to walk down.

Ok, I was kind of expecting a cave I could walk through and this was not it. You pay a couple dollars and walk down some steps until you get to ocean level. And that’s where it ends.
It’s a quick stop and luckily there weren’t a lot of people crowding around so we could take some pictures. I’d recommend checking out the path right behind the shop that goes out to another viewpoint and then taking a stroll all the way past the cove.

As everyone else said, it does cost 4 bucks per person. In my opinion, it’s probably worth doing once just to see what all the fuss is about but I couldn’t see myself paying 4 bucks to see it again.
There are 145 steps to get down to the cave and it is very narrow. It is best to go early in the morning before it gets crowded because it is annoying to have to squeeze by people coming up while you are going down (and vice versa).
The cave itself is neat and pictures never do it justice. It is very dark down there and the backlight from the cave opening makes it nearly impossible to take a picture of someone and not have them look like a black blob.
The whole thing is pretty touristy and only takes 20 min total (5 min each way climbing stairs and 10 min at the bottom). Once you leave make sure you walk behind the cave shop to the lookout point for some nice ocean views!

I have been to the caves twice now and both times came out happy, but not super impressed. You walk into this little gift shop and pay $ 4 a person to walk into this cave. The opening actually begins in the middle of the shop as well. It is a 154 stairs to get to the bottom. It is a bit chilly down there and also very narrow so I’d suggest going in the morning to beat the weekend rush.
Once at the bottom you walk onto a platform that looks out of the cave opening into the ocean. The view is actually pretty neat, but pictures do it no justice and it is very difficult to get a picture with people it is because the lighting just doesn’t work withe camera phones. Also, wear shoes you don’t mind getting dirty because the platform is usually a little muddy.
I think it’s one of those things to do once for the experience, but not worth doing it multiple times.

ONLY $ 4! Quick, tourist-​y thing to do when in La Jolla. 145 steps down… AND back up again. Cool view when you get to the bottom at the cave’s opening.
It’s 145 steps down a tunnel to the cave! I’m claustrophobic. I have bad knees. I don’t like doing things by myself. I DID THIS! And I’m really glad I did :)
When you’re done, walk back out the door of the store, turn to your right and walk the bluffs! It’s a beautiful, scenic, mixed terrain trail!!!

+Worth a stop.
+Only $ 4. People need to stop bitching about that. If you don’t like oddities like this, just don’t go.
+I felt like a Hobbit on some whack adventure.
+It was cool to hear the roar of the water as I made my way down.
+There were some big waves coming through the cave. Scary at first, but not life threatening or anything.
+Tall people need to watch their heads.
+Going back up the steps is difficult for people in the not the best of health.

Faut-​il visiter the seventh cave? Je né sais pas.
Par un jour de beau temps, mon amie et moi nous baladions dans La Jolla et intriguées par cette «Cave» nous nous y aventurâmes…
Achat du ticket puis descente…
Cet escalier directement creusé dans la roche, et sous la roche est long de … beaucoup de marches ! Il descends jusqu’à la mer, jusqu’à cette mini crique très abritée et cachée par les rochers, ce qui permettait dans des temps anciens, de livrer quelques litres d’alcool prohibé à l’abri des regards…
En clair vous descendez puis remontez un escalier sous la roche (donc il fait frais) et voilà.
Alors si l’édifice est impressionnant au regard de son histoire, pour notre part la balade nous a fait tellement rire, que je pense que je pourrais y retourner… non en fait, à la sortie on était beaucoup trop essoufflées !!
PS: vous pouvez acheter des souvenirs, lire l’histoire et prendre une bouteille d’eau à la boutique en haut !!