Port of San Diego Overview

If you’ve spent time along the tidelands of San Diego Bay, did you know you were enjoying the state lands entrusted to the Port of San Diego?

(Inside the Port of San Diego from Port of San Diego on Vimeo.)

The Port of San Diego was created by the state Legislature to manage San Diego Bay and surrounding waterfront land on December 18, 1962.

The Port has operated without tax dollars since 1970 and has been responsible for $1.5 billion in public improvements in its five member cities: Imperial Beach, National City, Chula Vista, San Diego and Coronado waterfront properties.

The Port oversees two maritime cargo terminals, a cruise ship terminal, 17 public parks, various wildlife reserves and environmental initiatives, a Harbor Police department and the leases of more than 600 tenant and sub-tenant businesses around San Diego Bay.

The Port is governed by a seven-member Board of Port Commissioners; one commissioner each is appointed by the city councils of Chula Vista, Coronado, Imperial Beach and National City, and three commissioners are appointed by the San Diego City Council.

“The Port of San Diego could not exist without its partners,” said Robert “Dukie” Valderrama, Chairman of the Board of Port Commissioners. “Because of them, the Port is able to fulfill its mission and its roles as an economic engine, community service provider, environmental steward and provider of public safety.”

We'd Like to Hear From You

Not sure where to send your comments or questions? Talk with our Customer Relations Assistants during normal business hours, at (619) 686-6200 or (800) 854-2757, from outside San Diego. You can also email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Main Phone: (619) 686-6200

Business Hours: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday - Friday

Addresses & Maps (View maps for directions)

I want information on:

COMPASS Strategic Plan FY 2007-2011

The COMPASS plan below is the most recent.

• COMPASS Strategic Plan (pdf)

What Kinds of Uses can be on the Waterfront?

Tidelands Trust Uses

The waterfront area managed by the Port is called state public trust land. This land that must serve statewide, as opposed to purely local, public purposes. Public trust uses are generally limited to water-dependent or water-related uses including:

• Commerce
• Fisheries
• Navigation
• Environmental preservation
• Recreation

Examples of appropriate uses are:

• Ports, marinas, docks, wharves, and buoys;
• Hunting, commercial and sport fishing;
• Bathing, swimming, boating;
• Warehouses, container cargo storage, facilities for the production of oil and gas;
• Visitor serving facilities such as hotels, restaurants, shops and parking lots;
• Wildlife refuges, scientific study; and
• Open space

Uses not permitted on public trust lands are those not related to the list above, do not serve a public purpose, and can be located on non-waterfront property such as residential, non-maritime related commercial, including department stores, and certain office uses.

Links

For additional information on stewardship of state tidelands, please refer to the following documents:

• Public Trust Doctrine (PDF)
• California Tidelands: Land Held in Public Trust (PDF)