San Diego Bay is a natural harbor adjacent to San Diego, California. It is 12 mi/19 km long, 1 mi/1.6 km-3 mi/4.8 km wide. The bay is bordered by the cities of San Diego, National City, Chula Vista, Imperial Beach and Coronado.
Considered to be one of the best natural harbors on the western coasts of the North American continent, San Diego Bay was among the earliest portions of those coasts to be settled by Europeans; it was colonized by Spain beginning in 1769. Later it served, and continues to serve to this day, as the home of the United States Navy's Pacific Fleet.
The western border of the bay is protected from the Pacific Ocean by a long, narrow strip of land called the Silver Strand. The northern end of the Silver Strand expands to become North Island, the location of Naval Air Station North Island (the home port of several aircraft carriers including the USS Ronald Reagan) and Coronado. Coronado is the site of the famous Hotel del Coronado. The U.S. Navy has three other facilities on the bay: Naval Station Sa