San Diego, the eighth-largest city in the United States and the second-largest in California, is known for its year-round sunny weather, beautiful beaches, and iconic landmarks such as Balboa Park and the USS Midway Museum. The city is also a major center for technology, healthcare, and tourism.
San Diego was first settled by the Kumeyaay people, and later by the Spanish in the late 1700s. The city quickly developed into a major port and center of trade, with the growth of the fishing, shipbuilding, and military industries. San Diego is also home to several major universities and research institutions, making it a major center for education and innovation.
San Diego is also known for its diverse population, with a large number of immigrants from Mexico and Asia, as well as African American and Native American communities. This diversity is reflected in the city's food, music, and art, making it a vibrant and exciting place to visit or live. The city's beaches, parks, and outdoor recreational activities also attract visitors from around the world. San Diego is also known for its zoo and Wild animal park, which are considered as one of the best in the world.
138 San Diego Trivia Questions Ranked From Easiest to Hardest (Updated for 2024)
- Before China repatriated them in 2019, the largest giant panda population outside of China sat around munching bamboo in the zoo of what American city that anagrams to SEA DINGO?
Answer: San Diego
- Since 2014, San Diego officially dedicated May 29th to what famous skateboarder who became the first to land “The 900” trick at the 1999 X Games?
Answer: Tony Hawk
- What West Coast city is home to Comic-Con International, or otherwise just referred to as Comic-Con, and has been since 1970?
Answer: San Diego
- The University of California San Diego's Theodore Geisel Library is named for a writer who might be better recognized by what pen name?
Answer: Dr. Seuss
- Mission Park in San Diego, CA is home to a location of what animal theme park and oceanarium? It used to best known for its connections to the killer whale Keiko and the movie “Free Willy”, until outside pressure limited their use of orcas.
Answer: SeaWorld
- What “B” 1,200-acre park in San Diego is home to museums, theaters, and the San Diego Zoo? It is named after the Spanish born explorer who was the first to see the Pacific Ocean, while exploring Panama.
Answer: Balboa Park
- Referring to their place of origin, the 2016 song "San Diego" was recorded by what rock band that's better known for hits like "All the Small Things" and "What's My Age Again?"
Answer: Blink-182
- If you head directly south from San Diego, what border town resort will be the first city you hit in Mexico?
Answer: Tijuana
- The San Diego Padres last appeared in the World Series in 1998, losing to what team, whose twenty-fourth world championship it was?
Answer: New York Yankees
- Balboa Park has twice been the host of the World's Fair. In what decade did San Diego's landmark park first host this global event?
Answer: 1910s
- What former U.S. naval aircraft carrier is now a museum in San Diego’s Navy Pier, displaying a collection of historic aircraft? The ship shares its name with a 1942 World War II battle in which the United States defended ships in the Pacific against the Japanese.
Answer: USS Midway
- At just under 3500m long, the San Diego-Coronado Bridge connects these two Californian townships. First opened in 1969 after two years of construction, which national icon was the first person to cross the bridge? We're looking for first and last names.
Answer: Ronald Reagan
- From 2004 to 2016, what San Diego native, now a commentator on "The NFL Today," played quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys?
Answer: Tony Romo
- Located near San Diego in Ramona, CA, the summit of Mt. Woodson is named after its resemblance to what singular snack food item? The snack food is a thin slice of tuber that has been deep fried or baked into being crunchy.
Answer: Potato Chip Rock
- What international point of entry, the busiest in the Americas and the fourth busiest in the world, connects Mexican Federal Highway 1 in Tijuana with Interstate 5 in San Diego?
Answer: San Ysidro
- What was the name of the female orca, captured in 1965, that became the star of SeaWorld San Diego's theatrical orca shows? After her death in 1971, the name continued to be used for other orcas in San Diego and other SeaWorld parks.
Answer: Shamu
- Literally a shaggy dog story, the movie "Top Dog" teamed a dog named Reno and what "Walker, Texas Ranger" star to foil a terror plot in San Diego?
Answer: Chuck Norris
- Kirk Gibson hit a three-run home run off of San Diego’s Goose Gossage to clinch the 1984 World Series, and the last championship to this date, for what Detroit baseball franchise?
Answer: Detroit Tigers
- An early role on "All That." Starring roles in "Drumline" and "Roll Bounce." A couple of kids with Mariah Carey and a "Masked Singer" gig. That's just part of the CV of what San Diego actor and rapper?
Answer: Nick Cannon
- Located on 1455 Market Street in San Diego, the Stay Classy Hostel's name is an obvious reference to a line spoken by Will Ferrell in what 2004 comedy film?
Answer: Anchorman
- What hyphenated “Water Displacement” oil product was invented in 1953 in a small laboratory at Rocket Chemical Company in San Diego?
Answer: WD-40
- Being the source of many memes, and quite a few laughs, the 2004 movie ‘Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy’ starting Will Ferrell is primarily set in which U.S. city?
Answer: San Diego
- Evoking a character in "Romeo and Juliet," the mascot of the San Diego Padres, who wears a brown robe, is known as The Swinging WHAT?
Answer: friar
- The Recruit Training Depot at San Diego's Camp Pendleton is one of two basic training locations for new recruits to which U.S. military branch?
Answer: Marine Corps
- What animal-based service, founded in 2013 in San Diego, allows Vets and patients to connect directly through their app? Their first law is to improv the lives of any “Pet” as much as possible.
Answer: PetDesk
- A statue and monument in San Diego commemorate what Iberian explorer, the first European to explore the California coast? This man with a “C” name was born in Spain and made his voyage in the 16th century.
Answer: Juan Cabrillo
- San Diego's Miramar Air Show needs no help from China with a massive pyrotechnic display called "The Great Wall of..." what?
Answer: Fire
- What historic amusement park on Ocean Front at Surfrider Square in Mission Bay, San Diego, opened in 1925, shares its name with a historic New York racetrack?
Answer: Belmont Park
- What beach in its namesake “C” San Diego County city shares its name with a 16th-century Spanish conquistador who led an expedition from Mexico to present day Kansas in the 1540s?
Answer: Coronado Beach
- What “W” Greek Revival house and museum, built in 1857 and currently on San Diego Ave, was the 19th century home of namesake Thomas and his family? A large aquatic mammal is contained in the name.
Answer: Whaley House Museum
- Which 1848 Treaty resulted in San Diego county joining the United States?
Answer: Guadalupe Hidalgo
- Harbor Drive in San Diego, CA is appropriately home to what “M” museum, home to the largest collection of historic sea vessels in the United States? Its name is an adjective for things connected to the sea, especially for commercial and military purposes.
Answer: San Diego Maritime Museum
- What “W” Beach in La Jolla, San Diego, is one word that sounds like three words describing a combination of breeze and ocean water?
Answer: Windansea Beach
- What “M” International Museum, located in San Diego’s Balboa Park, collects and displays folk art, craft, and design? It gets its name from a Japanese term for folk art, coined in the mid-1920s by the philosopher Yanagi Soetsu, among others?
Answer: Mingei International Museum
- San Diego stays careful with its two-word city motto, "Semper Vigilans" in Latin. In English, this translates to "always" what?
Answer: Vigilant
- With locations downtown and at Ocean Beach, what classic San Diego burger joint is named for a slang term for a non-surfer who hangs out at surf beaches?
Answer: Hodad's
- What does "San Diego" mean in English? (Hint: It is nowhere close to what Ron Burgundy said it means in German.)
Answer: Saint James
- What is the name of the aircraft carrier that has been turned into a museum in San Diego?
Answer: USS Midway
- In 1915, San Diego’s city council asked a famed “moisture accelerator” to literally make it rain and relieve the drought. If he could, they’d pay him $10,000. When catastrophic flooding began a few weeks later, the city not only blamed the man for the $4 million dollars in damage but refused to pay him. What was the name of the “rainmaker?”
Answer: Charles Hatfield
- Which store’s famous $1 hot dogs got their start as a vendor cart out front of the San Diego warehouse?
Answer: Costco
- Located in the Old Town neighborhood, what’s the name of the most historic—and haunted—home in San Diego (and possibly all of America, depending on which paranormal experts you ask)?
Answer: Whaley House
- Somewhere between a building and a ship, what’s the name of the full-scale model of a Navy destroyer that you can visit at Liberty Station? (Hint: For 40 years, the “landship” was used for teaching and was unofficially nicknamed the “USS Neversail”).
Answer: USS Recruit
- If you were a broody high schooler in the early 2000s, which rock band from San Diego known for “Meant to Live” and “Dare You to Move” was probably the soundtrack to your life?
Answer: Switchfoot
- The cover of which band's 1966 album Pet Sounds shows goats being fed by the performers at San Diego zoo?
Answer: The Beach Boys
- Greg Simms and Lara Scott are two of the on-air personalities on KXSN (98.1). What weather term does the station use to brand itself?
Answer: Sunny
- The San Diego Zoo's website hosts a popular live cam of Biarrung and Eve, the only two captive animals of what monotreme species outside Australia?
Answer: Platypus
- Since 1974, San Diegan Ted Giannoulas has suited up to play what mascot, which despite its popularity is not officially affiliated with any sports team?
Answer: The San Diego Chicken
- What Western U.S. fast food chain—perhaps surprisingly, founded by a guy named Robert—got its start in San Diego in 1951?
Answer: Jack in the Box
- The mascot of the University of California San Diego is a "King" who shares a name with--and looks suspiciously like--what father figure from Disney's The Little Mermaid?
Answer: King Triton
- You’ll find The Coaster Saloon and the Wave House at which sand-bar-based community in San Diego?
Answer: Mission Beach
- As of 2022, who is the current mayor of San Diego and also the first person of color and openly gay person to be elected to the office?
Answer: Todd Gloria
- Casa de Estudillo, built by early 19th century settlers to the San Diego area, is one of the city's best-preserved buildings made from what mud-brick material?
Answer: Adobe
- Aviator Charles Lindbergh used San Diego's Dutch Flats Airport to test the aircraft he would use to fly solo non-stop across the Atlantic. This aircraft was named for the "Spirit of" what other U.S. city?
Answer: St. Louis
- Wealthy magnate John Spreckels gave his name to what kind of musical instrument, the largest of its kind, which still stands in San Diego's Balboa Park?
Answer: Pipe Organ
- Where in downtown San Diego will you find the Cabrillo National Monument, the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, and some great tide pools to explore?
Answer: Point Loma
- What San Diego-area member of the House of Representatives resigned from Congress in 2005 after admitting to taking over $2 million in bribes from defense contractors?
Answer: Randy "Duke" Cunningham
- San Diego's California Building, now the Museum of Us, was used for some exterior shots of what palatial estate owned by Charles Foster Kane in the film Citizen Kane?
Answer: Xanadu
- Attended by just 300 people in its first year in 1970, what annual San Diego tradition now draws thousands of pop-culture enthusiasts, many cosplaying as their favorite superheroes?
Answer: Comic-Con
- Adam Brody’s name might conjure up old episodes of “The O.C.,” but he’s a San Diego native who went to Scripps Ranch High School. What’s the name of their high-flying mascot?
Answer: Freddy the Falcon
- What mixed-used development, which includes dozens of restaurants and a public market, sits on the site of San Diego's former Naval Training Center?
Answer: Liberty Station
- What Oceanside, California native scored a New York Times bestseller with her 2016 novel The Mothers, also set in the San Diego region? She'd repeat the feat in 2020 with the novel The Vanishing Half.
Answer: Brit Bennett
- Which memorial park in San Diego is the only one in the U.S. that honors both living and deceased veterans from the Revolutionary War up to the present day?
Answer: Mt. Soledad National Veterans Memorial
- Which San Diego MLB team managed by Bud Black plays at Petco Park?
Answer: Padres
- Friar Junipero Serra dedicated his first mass in California at what 1858 church, the oldest in San Diego?
Answer: Church of the Immaculate Conception
- Which cliff-enclosed beach in San Diego is a protected marine reserve, a favorite spot for snorkelers, and known for its big swells and sea lion smells? (Tip: If you want to check it out, get there early because there isn’t much parking!)
Answer: La Jolla Cove
- A museum on 3rd Avenue that opened in 1996 features exhibits that celebrate the cross-cultural history of which Asian country and America?
Answer: China
- What illuminating museum can you visit at the Davis-Horton House in San Diego?
Answer: The Gaslamp Museum
- You can get an idea of its age from its name, but which restaurant in San Diego is not only one of the longest-lasting pasta places, but also one of the oldest eateries in the city?
Answer: Old Spaghetti Factory
- In 2021, what Dominican player became the first Padres shortstop to make the All-Star game in eight years?
Answer: Fernando Tatis, Jr.
- The Birch Aquarium at the Scripps Institute for Oceanography boasts a 70,000-gallon tank habitat featuring a "forest" of what giant seaweed?
Answer: Kelp
- What gravel-voiced musician and pianist behind songs like 1974's "San Diego Serenade" got his start in San Diego's folk music scene?
Answer: Tom Waits
- San Diego's northeastern corner culminates in the agricultural valley of San Pasqual and what "C" canyon known for spectacular hiking and birding?
Answer: Clevenger Canyon
- Taking your Christmas lights down by February 2 is a must to avoid a $250 fine in what southern California city that's home to MLB's Padres?
Answer: San Diego
- Which iconic beach resort in San Diego is said to be haunted by the ghost of Kate Morgan (who legend has it checked in for a stay in 1892...and never left...)
Answer: Hotel del Coronado
- What popular brand of thong sandals was founded by a pair of Argentinean brothers who moved to the San Diego community of La Jolla in 1980s?
Answer: Reef
- Showrunner David Milch gave his HBO TV noir set in Imperial Beach, California what name, despite the fact that the main character is clearly Bruce Greenwood's "Mitch from San Diego?"
Answer: John Cincinnati
- A Christian cross atop what La Jolla mountain was once the cause of an extensive legal fight, as it consists of a religious symbol sitting on what had been government land? The land was developed into a war memorial and then sold to a private association which now maintains the memorial.
Answer: Mount Soledad
- What commuter train service, which runs between San Diego and San Luis Obispo, is the busiest Amtrak line outside of the northeastern United States?
Answer: Pacific Surfliner
- What San Diegan used his experience as a teen-aged reporter for "Rolling Stone" as the basis for the movie "Almost Famous"? The movie was shot in San Diego.
Answer: Cameron Crowe
- Now buried under the ground west of the Junípero Serra Museum, what was the first permanent European structure built in what would become California? Construction began in 1769 by soldiers and priests from Mexico (then called New Spain).
Answer: The Presidio
- The southern half of San Diego is covered by 619 and the northern half is covered by 858. If those numbers have a familiar ring, it’s because they’re what kind of calling code?
Answer: Area
- San Diego's El Indio Restaurant may be the birthplace of what "rolled taco," also known as a flauta?
Answer: Taquito
- What Belmont Park rollercoaster, designed by noted roller coaster designers Frank Prior and Frederick Church, is one of only four wooden rollercoasters to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places?
Answer: The Giant Dipper
- Although they have all been repatriated to China (the parent pandas were on loan), how many baby giant pandas have been born at the San Diego Zoo?
Answer: Six
- What Olympian, nicknamed the "Flying Tomato," was born in San Diego and grew up skiing in the San Bernardino Mountains?
Answer: Shaun White
- What large discount membership box headquartered in San Diego (which had been named after its founder) did Costco merge with in 1994?
Answer: Price Club
- The original seal for the San Diego Zoo featured what iconic animal from 1917 until 1955 when it was changed because the animal had become extinct in California (although it continues to flourish elsewhere)?
Answer: Grizzly Bear
- The Red Dead, Smuggler's Run, and Midnight Club video game series are all produced by the San Diego subsidiary of what influential studio?
Answer: Rockstar Games
- An exposition held from 1915 to 1917 in San Diego was intended to celebrate the opening of what distant modern marvel, as San Diego was often the first port of call for ships arriving from the east?
Answer: Panama Canal
- What 90's alternative band behind albums like Core and Tiny Music...Songs From the Vatican Gift Shop formed in San Diego in 1989?
Answer: Stone Temple Pilots
- What classic 1900 children's novel was largely written at San Diego's Hotel Coronado? Some have suggested that the design of the book's famously colorful city is even based on the opulent hotel.
Answer: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
- A traditional garden within San Diego's Balboa Park and a large bell on Shelter Island are dedicated to the city's "Friendship" with what Pacific nation?
Answer: Japan
- In 1966, Nat Young became the world's first world champion at what sport in San Diego's Ocean Beach neighborhood?
Answer: Surfing
- The second largest wooden structure in the United States, Hotel del Coronado was featured in which iconic 1959 Marilyn Monroe movie about two men on the run from the mob?
Answer: Some Like It Hot
- It might smell sweet, but which fault line is actually considered the biggest earthquake threat to San Diego, running along the coast and beneath downtown?
Answer: Rose Canyon
- What San Diego-based casual restaurant, branded as "Sweet Tomatoes" outside of Southern California, closed all 97 of its locations during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Answer: Souplantation
- You can get this one right if you think outside the box: The Geisel Library at UC San Diego is named for what author who wrote about a socks-wearing fox?
Answer: Dr. Suess
- In 2019, signs were unveiled on San Diego's El Cajon Boulevard featuring what name, which memorializes the neighborhood's concentration of Vietnamese immigrants?
Answer: Little Saigon
- San Diego was the site of the 1996 Republican National Convention, where former Kansas senator Bob Dole was nominated for president, and what former HUD Secretary was nominated for vice president?
Answer: Jack Kemp
- Jason Mraz, a singer-songwriter you may recall from the 2002 hit “The Remedy,” has a family farm in San Diego for what toast-worthy produce?
Answer: Avocado
- San Diego has been home to several professional basketball teams, including what is now the Houston Rockets, and what other team, that kept its name when it moved away from the city in 1984?
Answer: Clippers
- San Diego's e3 Civic High School, a public charter that serves nearly 500 students, bills itself as the only school in America to be housed within what other type of public building?
Answer: Library
- "Emanuel" was the first name of what loquacious soap maker, who migrated the U.S. in the 1920, eventually settling in the town of Escondido, and whose namesake company is still located in Vista, California?
Answer: Dr. Bronner
- What super-useful "water displacement" substance was invented by San Diego's Rocket Chemical in 1953 and inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum in 2014?
Answer: WD-40
- With a population of just 500-600 birds, all of which come from a group captively bred in Los Angeles and San Diego, what species is far rarer than a FLORIDIAN RACCOON?
Answer: CALIFORNIA CONDOR
- The Battle of San Pasqual, part of the fight for San Diego, was the bloodiest battle fought in California during what war?
Answer: Mexican-American War
- What annual four-day event held at the San Diego Convention Center names the museum in Balboa Park that USA Today named the country's Best Pop Culture Museum in 2023?
Answer: Comic-Con
- What Helmut Jahn-designed building, which has been described as resembling a Phillips-head screwdriver, is the tallest building in California outside of Los Angeles or San Francisco?
Answer: One America Plaza
- A landmark eleven-story Beaux Arts hotel in San Diego's downtown is named for what president, having been financed and built in 1910 by his son and namesake?
Answer: Ulysses S. Grant
- Occurring only 5 years after the dissolution of its namesake pact, what European capital city on the Vistula River became a sister city of San Diego in 1996?
Answer: Warsaw
- A burnt photo and baby powder footprints are some of the things that scare the bejesus out of the San Diego homeowners in what super successful 2007 found footage supernatural thriller?
Answer: Paranormal Activity
- Jim Belushi plays a rage-a-holic San Diego detective who gets partnered with a dog in a 1989 movie with what very short, on-the-nose title?
Answer: K-9
- What is the name of the topographical landmark that was home to the last home lived in by famous author Dr. Seuss?
Answer: Mount Soledad
- San Diego produces over 60% of the California's output of what crop, the most of any place in the United States?
Answer: Avocado
- You can visit UC San Diego's Geisel Library via the "Snake Path," artist Alexis Smith's tiled walkway that features a granite sculpture of what John Milton epic with a pretty important snake?
Answer: Paradise Lost
- In 2000, four female attorneys joined forces to create what Family Law firm, whose name is reminiscent of a Jackson 5 hit released in 1970?
Answer: ABC Family Law
- The etymology of the term directly ties it to Latin and Old English terms for ordained ministers, but in its current usage in the American legal field it often refers to a paralegal. What is the term?
Answer: Clerk
- The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego has "Flowers", a 1967 silkscreen ink piece by what artist?
Answer: Andy Warhol
- Since he played his entire career with San Diego from 1982 to 2001, it's no surprise that what Hall of Fame right fielder was often referred to by the nickname "Mr. Padre?"
Answer: Tony Gwynn
- Every year in January, which tournament of the PGA Tour is held on the Torrey Pines Golf Course?
Answer: Farmers Insurance Open
- The oldest surviving YouTube video was uploaded to the platform by its co-founder Jawed Karim on April 23, 2005. What popular place in San Diego was this video shot at? The title of the video offers a big clue!
Answer: San Diego Zoo
- The striking sandstone statue by artist Alvaro de Bree at San Diego's Cabrillo National Monument of its namesake explorer was donated to the United States in 1939 by what European nation?
Answer: Portugal
- The Will Eisner awards, held every year in San Diego, recognize the year's greatest achievements in what specific field?
Answer: Comic Books
- Which Point refers to both the community and the peninsula that separates San Diego from the Pacific Ocean? (Hint: It’s the Spanish word for “hill”)
Answer: Loma
- Kirsten Dunst and Eliza Dushku play rival cheerleaders at a San Diego high school in what classic teen film?
Answer: Bring It On
- Which eatery on Grand Del Mar Way run by William Bradley is the only Michelin 3-star restaurant in San Diego?
Answer: Addison
- The screenplay for what film emerged from a year filmmaker Cameron Crowe spent undercover at San Diego's Clairemont High School?
Answer: Fast Times at Ridgemont High
- At which museum in San Diego can you visit the historic landmark that commemorates where the first permanent European settlement in California?
Answer: Junípero Serra
- Reports suggest that what San Diego team will cut its payroll by about 20% in 2024, after a disappointing performance in the 2023 MLB season?
Answer: Padres
- "California" burritos are filled with carne asada (thinly sliced steak), cheese, pico de gallo, sour cream and what unusual ingredient? These burritos were created in San Diego in the 1980s.
Answer: French fries
- What San Diego brewery often names its beers after locally found fish, like Wahoo, Manta Ray, and Sculpin?
Answer: Ballast Point Brewing
- What medical “D”evice company, founded in 1999 and headquartered in San Diego, California, manufactures blood glucose monitors for diabetes management?
Answer: Dexcom
- Which former area of San Diego, whose name derives from a colloquial pronunciation of the name of a type of cartilaginous fish, was the site of the city’s first Chinatown?
Answer: Stingaree
- With a single guess, name either of the two San Diego neighborhoods that are named for the Congressperson that in 1871 lobbied the federal government to build a transcontinental railroad ending in San Diego. Ultimately, the effort was unsuccessful.
Answer: Barrio Logan or Logan Heights
- If you switched their first names for surnames in the title, "Rick & A.J." would be the title of what '80s show about San Diego private detective brothers?
Answer: Simon & Simon
- What “L” San Diego law firm, founded by namesake attorney Joel on University Avenue, specializes in employment law?
Answer: Larabee
- The ninth-largest, municipally-owned park in the U.S. is approximately 46% land and 54% water. This park is also the largest man-made aquatic park in the U.S. What is this San Diego park?
Answer: Mission Bay Park
- In 2022, the new Sesame Place San Diego opened on the former site of what SeaWorld-owned water park with an appropriately undersea name?
Answer: Aquatica
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About the Author
Eli Robinson is the Chief Trivia Officer at Water Cooler Trivia. He was once in a Bruce Springsteen cover band called F Street Band.
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