Think surfers and sailors in this town have it made? The waves can go flat for weeks at a stretch, and there’s only so much wind and daylight to go around. Tennis players, on the other hand, most certainly do. They can don their pleated skirts and headbands and revel in nearly 365 days—and on lighted courts, nights!—of ground strokes, volleys, serves, and smashes every year.

In the City of San Diego alone, there are 159 courts, more than 140 of which are outfitted with lights for nighttime play. You can find an exhaustive list of courts that includes high schools, parks, and even backboards and practice walls in your neighborhood here. But we’ve rounded up premier places to play. Committing to a club membership is a big deal, but many of these courts are accessible to the public for the amenable price of free.

Tennis Courts in La Jolla and Del Mar

La Jolla Tennis Club

Nine courts in the heart of downtown La Jolla.

Address: 7632 Draper Ave.

Courts: Nine courts

Membership Price: between $95 and $205 depending on time of year for adult membership

Day Pass Price: $10 for non-member adult day pass

Other Amenities: Assorted lessons, clinics, and leagues

University City Racquet Club

These courts are located at the Standley Recreation Center.

Address: 3585 Governor Drive

Courts: Six courts, lighted in weekdays only

Membership Price: $325 annual adult membership; $100 junior membership

Day Pass Price: $10; $8 if playing with member

Other Amenities: Youth and adult classes available

Surf and Turf Recreation Center

Where the surf meets the serve.

Address: 15555 Jimmy Durante Blvd.

Courts: Eight courts, all lighted

Membership Price: $1,400 annual adult membership or $120 monthly; $950 annual junior membership or $80 monthly

Other Amenities: Lessons, camps, and “cardio tennis” workouts

Tennis Courts in Point Loma and Ocean Beach

Barnes Tennis Center

Adult programs are available but it’s mostly all about the kids at this wonderland of youth after-school tennis programs, teams and tournaments.

Address: 4490 W. Point Loma Blvd.

Courts: 25 hard courts, two clay courts, all lighted

Membership Price: $350 for adult membership

Day Pass Price: $8-15 per adult for a one hour court rental

Peninsula Tennis Club

A spacious complex featuring riverfront public courts.

Address: 2525 Bacon St.

Courts: 12 lighted courts

Membership Price: $185 annual adult membership

Day Pass Price: $10

Other Amenities: Lessons, clinics, and tournaments, weekly and monthly tennis get-togethers

Point Loma/Cabrillo Tennis Club

This club plays on four courts at Point Loma Community Park and two courts at Cabrillo Recreation Center.

Address: 1049 Catalina Blvd. and 3051 Canon St.

Courts: Six

Membership Price: $75 annual individual membership

Day Pass Price: $5

Volo Sports

Volo runs adult leagues for beginners as well as coed mixed doubles at various skill levels starting at all times of the year. Eight-week playing schedules include post-game happy hours at local establishments.

Address: Various Locations

Courts: Volo leagues play at Barnes Tennis Center and Peninsula Tennis Club

Membership Price: Prices vary from about $119 to $185, depending on league

Other Amenities: Make new friends, beat them at tennis

Tennis Courts in Pacific and Mission Beach

Pacific Beach Tennis Club

This 200-member club boasts various leagues and mixers near De Anza Cove.

Address: 2639 Grand Ave.

Courts: Eight courts

Membership Price: $295 annual membership; $34 monthly membership

Day Pass Price: $10; 18 and under are free

Other Amenities: Clubhouse, pro shop, and ball machine ($10 per hour)

Pacific Beach Recreation Center

A pair of lighted courts just waiting for a heated pick-up match.

Address: 1405 Diamond St.

Courts: Two lighted courts

Price: Free

Other Amenities: Youth and adult lessons available

San Diego Tennis and Racquet Club

This 10-acre facility also boasts a pool, racquetball, basketball, volleyball, and table tennis.

Address: 4848 Tecolote Rd.

Courts: 22; 16 are lighted

Price: Contact the club for details

Other Amenities: One stadium court, backboards, and pro shop. Lessons available through Angel Lopez Tennis Academy

Tennis Courts in Balboa Park

Morley Field / Balboa Tennis Club

The Morley Field courts, in volleying distance of the San Diego Zoo, are the site of many tennis tournaments throughout the year hosted by Balboa Tennis Club, which offers a full complement of lessons and leagues. Reservations can be made a week in advance.

Address: 2221 Morley Field Drive

Courts: 25 hard courts, all lit, some with bleachers

Membership Price: $450 yearly adult membership

Day Pass Price: $10 adult day pass

Other Amenities: One stadium court with 1,500 seats, and a clubhouse with lounge, and locker rooms. Membership lets you reserve courts a week in advance and grants access to clubhouse with locker rooms, showers, and the option to play on the club’s teame

Tennis Courts in Kearny Mesa and Lake Murray

San Diego Mesa College

The courts are open to the public when not in use for classes, practices, or matches. Check team schedules at Gosdmesa.com, keeping in mind that college team matches can take five hours.

Address: 7250 Mesa College Circle

Courts: Eight

Price: Free

Other Amenities: All the tennis, none of the student loans

Lake Murray Tennis Club

Ten courts in a sublime suburban setting.

Address: 7003 Murray Park Dr.

Courts: 10 courts

Membership Price: $335 adult memberships; $110 kids memberships

Day Pass Price: $10 day pass

Other Amenities: Clubhouse, pro lessons, leagues, tournaments, social gatherings

Tennis Courts in Coronado

Coronado Tennis Center

Tennis is a popular pastime on this island hamlet.

Address: 1501 Glorietta Blvd.

Courts: Eight courts, three are lighted

Day Pass Price: Reservations made five days or fewer before game day are $5 and $15, for residents and nonresidents respectively)

Other Amenities: Clubhouse equipped with a kitchen and free Wifi

Coronado Cays Park

This park is located adjacent to Silver Strand State Beach.

Address: 99 Grand Caribe Isle

Courts: Five courts, all lighted

Price: Free

Tennis Courts in Carmel Valley and Rancho Penasquitos

Carmel Valley Tennis

Located at the Carmel Valley Recreation Center.

Address: 3777 Townsgate Dr.

Courts: Four courts, all lighted

Membership Price: $50 annual adult memberships

Day Pass Price: $5 per person/per hour day rate for nonmembers

Other Amenities: Lessons, camps, and clinics with a heavy emphasis on juniors

Rancho Penasquitos Tennis Center

Get in line, Rafael Nadal! There’s currently an eight-10-month waiting list for memberships but the private nonprofit club generally keeps one court open for public nonmember use with a $5 day pass.

Address: 12350 Black Mountain Road

Courts: 12 courts

Membership Price: $325 adult memberships; $550 family membership; $105 junior memberships

Day Pass Price: $5

Other Amenities: Senior discounts available

Last month, we gave you a rundown on the top running backs to watch in the CIF-San Diego Section.

And we want to know who you think is the absolute best of the bunch.

Vote as many times as you’d like through 11:59 p.m. Sunday, and we’ll announce the results on Monday.

More: Top quarterbacks by section – California’s Top 50 | San Diego Section | Southern Section |North Coast Section | Central Coast Section | Central Section | Sac-Joaquin Section

Sir Autry, Hoover, Sr.: Autry finished his junior year with 2,502 all-purpose yards and 32 touchdowns leading to double digit scholarship offers. He’s looking for his third straight season of more than 1,400 rushing yards.

Max Turner, Granite Hills, Sr.: Turner has rushed for just under 2,000 yards over the past two seasons. In last season’s Open Division championship run, he finished with more than 1,100 yards and 19 total touchdowns.

Pablo Jackson, Helix, Sr.: Jackson paired with Turner at Granite Hills the past two seasons. He makes the move to Helix as a senior looking to replace the production of the graduated Kevin Allen. He’s scored 27 varsity touchdowns with one season left to play.

Aden Jackson, Lincoln, Sr.: Jackson found the end zone 17 times as a junior, 15 coming on the ground. He finished the year with 705 rushing yards, averaging seven yards per carry.

Giovanni Harte, Mission Hills, Sr.: Harte rushed for 1,104 yards and had 13 touchdowns while helping the Grizzlies reach their second straight Division 1 title game.

Coby Herman, La Costa Canyon, Jr.: Herman finished with eight touchdowns and more than 500 yards as a sophomore. He appears poised to be one of the section’s breakout performers in 2024.

Donald Reed III, Lincoln, Sr.: Reed had nine rushing touchdowns last season, finishing with 679 yards on 94 carries.

Willie Flores, Cathedral Catholic, Soph.: Flores had 856 all-purpose yards and eight touchdowns as a freshman at St. Augustine. He averaged five yards per carry and now heads to rival Cathedral Catholic to continue his high school career.

Aidan McGill, La Jolla, Sr.: McGill averaged six yards per carry during La Jolla’s run to the Division 2 title game in 2023. He closed out the year with 1,044 yards and 12 total touchdowns.

Nico Viesca, Central, Sr.: Viesca carried Central’s rushing attack as a junior, finishing with 1,102 yards and 17 touchdowns.

Leonidas Bell, El Camino, Sr.: 2023 stats – 329 yards, three TDs rushing on 9.4 yards per carry; four catches for 50 yards

Cody Cappelletti, Patrick Henry, Sr.: 2023 stats – 576 yards, 12 TDs rushing; 31 catches for 221 yards and three TDs

Nate Clifford, Santa Fe Christian, Sr.: 2023 stats – 373 yards rushing; one catch for 22 yards

Amare Gomez, Rancho Bernardo, Sr.: 2023 stats – 802 yards, nine TDs rushing; 45 catches for 383 yards and five TDs; completed 2-3 passes for 64 yards and one TD

Luke Jorgensen, Poway, Jr.: 2023 stats – 728 yards, eight TDs rushing; five catches for 59 yards and one TD; 454 kick return yards

Tabari Lane, San Marcos, Sr.: 2023 stats – 421 yards, four TDs rushing; two catches for 10 yards

Matthew Moreno, Brawley, Sr.: 2023 stats – 529 yards, eight TDs rushing on 7.6 yards per carry; seven catches for 151 yards and one TD

La’Darrione Perkins, Chula Vista, Sr.: 2023 stats – 846 yards, 12 TDs rushing on 8.1 yards per carry; six catches for 116 yards and two TDs

Ryan Remigio, Del Norte, Sr.: 2023 stats – 529 yards, three TDs rushing; four catches for 29 yards

Zane Rottier, Mount Miguel, Jr.: 2023 stats – 445 yards, four TDs rushing on 7.0 yards per carry; five catches for 75 yards and one TD

He’s responsible for one-third of Mexico’s Michelin stars for sustainability and has a regular ole Michelin star, too. He’s a failed baseball umpire. His truck smells like Persian cucumbers and quail. He makes his own wine, his own olive oil, and shucks oysters like a robot. And now, Drew Deckman is finally opening his first restaurant in San Diego, with his son Sam cooking on the line with him and Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove, a partner. 

Overhyping restaurants is as gross as it is predictable, puts too much pressure on what is ostensibly a dinner party with a permanent address. But, f*ck it. His arrival here, in this tiny New Yorkian fissure of a restaurant space, is the beginning of a new era for North Park. 

31ThirtyOne opens Wednesday, August 14.

Deckman’s existence alone is imposing. He’s 6’6” or 6’13”. Sitting in his office, two days before opening night, he has to duck to not concuss himself on a low part of the ceiling.

“It’s an air duct, so we can’t move it,” he laughs.

On the white board behind him, the words “PRECISION” and “EXECUTION.” Below that, in wobblier script, “I love my dad,” written four or five times. His nine-year-old has been here for this whole process, watching her dad gut a failed restaurant, endure protracted delays, beg mercy from governing bodies that must sign-off before he can serve a single grain.

“I’ve had a shaman come in here twice to cleanse the place,” he says. “She’s coming again Friday.” 

His hair, whitish-gray like the coals he cleaned out of his grill under that Baja tree for the last decade at Deckman’s en El Mogor, makes him look snow-topped. He is alpine. He has a constant, slight hunch, either the result of many years leaned over a cutting board in famous places run by famous food names (Paul Bocuse, Jacques Maximin, his mentor Madeleine Kamman) or because he’s trying to un-impose himself. Lower his altitude to relate. 

Last night was his final “friends and family” dinner—dress rehearsals for his staff. Invite-only, free meals served to investors and friends and loved ones. Grateful guinea pigs who are told to expect everything to go wrong and be kind. Friends and families are an exorcism of last fatal mistakes by staff, before the doors fling open to the savage gen-pop of foodieland.

The food was incredible and imperfect. A 14-day, dry-aged ribeye with potato mousseline is steak and potatoes of your dreams, the crust of the steak so good it turns you feral. The Mindful mushrooms (from growers in El Cajon) with kale and smoked bacon are under-seasoned. At one point, the whole ordering system goes dark. The kitchen staff flies blind. A door handle to the restroom keeps falling off. I pass by the kitchen (everyone passes it, it’s wide open in the tiny middle of the place, a laying bare of the process) and he looks mad, ravenous for a little bit of control, a very seasoned and capable captain on a boat with an engine fire.

The next day, I walk in to see how he’s doing. His staff is gathered around him.

“Last night was terrible,” he says to them. “I was terrible. I never want us to get there again. But this is why we do this. If we did a test run and everyone said everything was great, that does us no good.” He makes six or seven metaphors. At one point he holds up a strainer and equates its perfect circle to the gaggle of humans that make up a restaurant organism.

He’s not chiding. He got his college degree in philosophy. He’s doing that. 

It’s such a wild thing to see Deckman here, in a formal kitchen. For years, he’s stood under pine trees in the dry, open wild of Baja, goggles on, smoke billowing around him, giant tongs in hand. I ask him how it feels to be caged again.

“I love it,” he says. “I can handle it now. This was my life for so many years, that decade in Europe. It became my whole life back then, and not in a healthy way. It was 24 hours a day, no ability to have any relationship. I remember distinctly when Bernard Loiseau shot himself because he was afraid he was going to lose a Michelin star. That changed me. I stopped and said, ‘What the fuck are we doing?’”

And so he went free-range. He got work on fishing boats in Hawaii, then Mexico. When he saw how much biomass was being thrown back into the oceans, he got a bigger perspective on food. Deckman’s, and now 31ThirtyOne, is the reflection of that. All produce and greens are from San Diego farms. Oysters from Baja. Food of its place. 

“At some point, you get so close to it all you can see is a single dot on the page,” he says of the unhealthy side of the chef obsession, The Bear–type kitchen life. “Then you back away and you see all these other dots that make up the bigger picture. When you’re only seeing that dot it’s all ego. In the beginning it was all about me. I thought I was the best thing since beer in a can. But you can only be a dick so long until people won’t answer your phone calls. As I moved away from the kitchen and found other things. I had to stand back from the fire. And then you realize it’s not about you. There are all these people holding up the ship. So stop trying to be the ship and be the water.”

That’s why there are no titles in his kitchen at 31ThirtyOne. No hierarchy. “We’re all just cooks, we’re all just bartenders and servers.”

At one point in opening 31ThirtyOne, he was so deep in blueprints and permitting applications and sheetrock contractors, he couldn’t see the vision of what the food would be. “My PR team kept saying, ‘What do you mean you don’t have a menu? Do you realize you open in a month?’”

So after construction crews had gone home, he sat alone in the kitchen in the dark and tried to see it. “I sat there for 45 minutes to an hour every night,” he says. “And it finally started to come.” 

Wednesday, we’ll see what came.