San Diego is a beautiful city full of diversity and immaculate scenery. What other city can offer you desert , mountains, and beach environments to film for your next project? 

Not many.

At Dreamvision Media we have flown all over this amazing city and captured some mind blowing content for our creative projects. Rest assured, we have the answer you’re looking for.

SAN DIEGO TERRAIN

There are 3 main areas of San Diego that will give you different landscapes to choose from when filming drone shots: Coastline Areas, Inland locations and desert terrain. Depending on what content you are creating, you may choose to film in specific areas.

1. Coastline Landscapes: These are great for driving shots along the coastline, beach footage, and anything with the ocean nearby. San Diego’s coastline has plenty of piers, cliffs, roads and sandy beaches to choose from along the coast. You can catch b-roll of surfers shredding and if you’re lucky catch a family of dolphins playing in the waves.
2. Inland landscapes: If you head east of the coast 10 miles or more you will find areas that generally have more hills and mountain terrain . There are plenty of hiking trails that make for epic “top of the mountain” style shots.. You can also find many hidden locations and lakes along this zone of San diego. In the winter time you also can catch some snow capped hills in areas like pine valley if it’s cold enough.
3. Desert Landscapes: If you head east past Julian you will begin to get flat desert terrain. Many empty areas to film cool shots. If you head toward ocotillo you will even begin to get some dunes. 

In this article, we will take a deep dive into the 3 areas of San Diego that will provide you different scenery for your footage. Keep reading for a deep dive on each zone and our favorite locations to film drone footage.

COASTLINE FILMING AREAS

You can find amazing shots all along the coastline of San Diego. Below is a list of each area that you’ll find the best shots, as well as what we recommend for capturing drone footage in each region.

• IMPERIAL BEACH: 

Filming a drone in imperial beach can give you some good shots, however there is an airport nearby and you may have to unlock your aircraft to fly in some areas. There is a beautiful estuary area as well that may be ok to record…… however you cannot get close to the wildlife, so proceed with caution in this area. A great spot to film is the imperial beach pier. At sunset you can grab some amazing footage. This area has been known to get some amazing big waves as well.

Most of the beauty in imperial beach for drones is around the coastline and I wouldn’t bother going inland in this area as it’s mostly residential.

• BARRIO LOGAN:

Barrio Logan is another great area to film drone footage in San diego. Chicago park is a popular area with alot of colors. There are always events and car shows going on in this area. From Barrio Logan you get a good view of downtown and the 5 freeway. This area has a lot of military shipyards and the airport is close so you may be restricted to fly in some areas. You will definitely need to unlock your drone as you are getting close to the airport.

• DOWNTOWN: 

Filming with drones in Downtown San Diego can give you some incredible shots. At Dreamvision, We have filmed the cityline from all angles. To film in this area you will need to unlock your drone for sure as it is right next to the airport. Not only can you get amazing building shots in this area, but you can film in the harbor and get some shots of the coronado bridge. At sunset it’s hard to get a bad shot. 

• CORONADO ISLAND:

Coronado is a great place to film from the sky. The most popular areas would have to be the Coronado Bridge and the Hotel Del Coronado. From the island you’ll have a legendary view of the downtown buildings as well. However there are alot of military areas so be careful where you try to film and make sure you unlock your drone before you go to shoot. Coronado Cays Park offers a wide open space for you to fly your drone, as well as stunning views of the San Diego skyline, picturesque sunsets with palm trees, and the local marina as muses. There are also plenty of amenities nearby in addition to the sandy beach, so you can make a day of it. Just be sure to follow the drone flying regulations the city of San Diego sets.

• OCEAN BEACH:

Filming drone in ocean beach is a vibe. The area is close to sunset cliffs and has gorgeous cliff and beach scenery. The OB pier is a interesting thing to film as well as the main street Newport which runs perpendicular to the coast. Ocean beach has a lot of charm and looks great from the air. When your flying a drone a few hundred feet up, you can even get views of downtown

• SUNSET CLIFFS:

Next to Ocean beach sits sunset cliffs. You can get some spectacular shots of the cliffs where some of the best looking mansions in San Diego sit. We have filmed many scenes here for commercials and movies, and have captured dolphins swimming on numerous occasions. Sunset cliff has some secluded beaches as well that are great to film drone with because they are hard to get to. If you are looking for beach vibes with cliffs this is the spot you’ll want to film. From certain angles you can also see the downtown cityline from this area. Things to consider when filming with a drone in sunset cliffs is to watch out for birds and high winds. 

• MISSION BEACH

Mission Beach is another great area to film drone footage. A unique element of mission beach is the boardwalk area that runs parallel to the shore. This can be great for lifestyle content or getting footage of people riding along a road with beach scenery. Mission beach also has a large roller coaster at Belmont park which looks great from the sky.

• LA JOLLA 

La Jolla is one of the most stunning areas of the San Diego coastline. A perfect place to add drone footage to your film projects. Not only are there beautiful beaches in this area with spectacular mansions in all directions, but there is also interesting hillside topography and a cove area with alot of wildlife and natural beauty. Some of our favorite spots to film are the La Jolla cove, Windansea beach, and La Jolla shores. This area is great for shooting scenes in an upscale environment. There is no shortage of expensive imagery in this area.

• TORREY PINES / BLACKS BEACH 

Torrey Pines offers a lot of lush trees and cliffs along the coastline. Blacks beach is a secluded area that has a gorgeous cliff landscape overlooking the ocean. The area is filled with amazing homes and beautiful scenery. Watch this video where we filmed a lot of the scenes off the cliffs of blacks beach. Add link

• DEL MAR

North of Torrey Pines on the coast is Del Mar. You can catch great views all along the 101 freeway. Along the 101 coast of this area you will get amazing cliffs as your backdrop and beach scenery. The city is filled with high end real estate and is great for content that needs to follow that narrative.

• SOLANA BEACH

For more cliffside beach views , solana beach is another great option. It is more flat in topography compared to La Jolla and Del Mar, and has a more laid back appearance.

• CARLSBAD STATE BEACH

Carlsbad state beach is once again another beautiful beach scene in San Diego….Just like all the beaches of san diego , it has its own character that separates it in its own way. If you drive on the 101 northbound you will hit this strip of land that offers many cool locations for filming. 

• OCEANSIDE

As you head up the coastline of San Diego county , you will stumble upon Oceanside. A hip and beachy community with some great areas for filming drones.

INLAND FILMING AREAS

You can find amazing shots all along the coastline of San Diego. Inland San Diego can give you small lakes and mountains to add to your story. Below is a list of each area that you’ll find the best shots, as well as what we recommend for capturing drone footage in each region.

If you’re looking for footage around a lake, perhaps boating or fishing footage, There are 4 reservoirs in San Diego we feel look the best visually. 

• OTAY LAKES RESERVOIR
• SAN VICENTE RESERVOIR
• LAKE MURRAY RESERVOIR
• EL CAPITÁN RESERVOIR

All these locations will offer amazing lake driven content. We have shot footage at the locations for short films and documentary style filming for fishing.

• JAMUL

For mountain terrain and small city feels Jamul is a great place to film from the sky. This area can be great for those seeking a backcountry style setup for your content. We have filmed a variety of things in Jamul for narrative and commercial projects.

• MISSION TRAILS
• RANCHO SANTA FE
• JULIAN
• PINE VALLEY

DESERT FILMING AREAS

• GOAT CANYON TRESTLE

Goat Canyon Trestle is a unique location on the outskirts of san diego county. Its not easy to get there, and will require some hiking, however it can be used for a variety of cool filming shots. The bridge has a gorgeous construction and can be interesting to integrate into your content to help tell the story of your video. 

• OCOTILLO 

The Ocotillo Area is filled with lakebed style desert terrain and windmills. Many roads are two lanes and can be used to film a variety of cool stuff. Great for epic driving in the lakebed shots

• ANZA BORREGO STATE PARK aka THE BADLANDS

If the shot calls for rocky, mountainous desert topography, then Anza Borrego State park may be your best bet in San diego. The area is secluded and gorgeous. It gets its name “the badlands” from the rocky torn up terrain. Get there before the sunrise to capture some amazing scenery and unique landscapes. Keep in mind winds are high in this area and can be very easy to lose your drone if you’re not equipped.

CONSIDER DRONE LAWS IN SAN DIEGO

San Diego, California’s Drone laws differ for recreational and commercial use. If you want to fly a drone recreationally, you must follow the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) laws. However, if you’re going to fly a drone for commercial purposes, you must apply for a permit from the City of San Diego.

The FAA requires that all drones be registered before they are flown. You can register your drone online at the FAA website. Once your drone is registered, you will receive a certificate that you must keep with you when you fly.

You can only fly your drone during the day and in good weather conditions. Plus, you must also keep your drone within your sight at all times. Lastly, you are not allowed to fly your drone over crowds of people or near airports.

On another note, if you want to fly your drone for commercial purposes, you must apply for a permit from the City of San Diego. Now you know, so launch those UAVs.

With so many rules and regulations to follow, we always recommend hiring a licensed pilot with insurance for your production. Read our full article here

SAN DIEGO DRONE FILMING SERVICES

San Diego has a plethora of amazing locations to film for your creative project. At Dreamvision Media we have scoured the city for the best locations to film. We are fully licensed and insured. We also know what areas can be unlocked to get the shot you need.

If you are in need of a drone pilot in San Diego , we would love to help.