On Monday, July 7, the City of San Diego will fully reopen the Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach.  This comes 18 months after the public portion of the pier – beyond the Crystal Pier Hotel – closed in December 2023 due to damage from several storms. Work to stabilize the pier has now been completed and the City has worked closely with the hotel owner to safely reopen for public access.

“The iconic Crystal Pier will once again be open to the public thanks to the collaborative and dedicated efforts of City staff and Bill and Claudia Allen from the Crystal Pier Hotel,” said Council President Joe LaCava. “While the pier is open and structurally sound, work will continue to strengthen its resilience against rising tides and increasingly intense storms.”

In the first phase of emergency construction work that began in January 2024, crews replaced dozens of damaged or broken braces supporting the wooden structure. Those repairs were completed in May 2024. However, while that work was underway, turbulent ocean conditions damaged or broke eight of the pier piles. A second phase of emergency work to repair or replace those piles began in late 2024 and finished in March 2025. Following the completion of that emergency construction, crews shifted their focus to non-emergency work to repair and replace remaining braces that were damaged.

All of the completed work was focused on the City-owned portions of the pier, which include the public portion – or the westernmost half of the pier – and the portion that is leased to the hotel – or the western half of the wider section. The easternmost half of the wider section is owned by the Crystal Pier Hotel and any repairs in that section are the responsibility of the property owner.

The overall construction cost of work completed during the closure was approximately $2.06 million. Following completion of the repairs, the pier has been deemed structurally safe.

No additional construction is currently planned for the Crystal Pier. Staff will continue to monitor the nearly 100-year-old structure’s condition for any future damage and will address issues as they arise.