Direct Flights from Sacramento to San Diego
San Diego · California
Nonstop service from SMF to SAN on Alaska, Southwest. Here's the schedule at a glance — plus what to do once you land.
How rare is this nonstop?
72 cities have a nonstop to San Diego, Sacramento among them.
How long to go to San Diego for, from Sacramento
1h 30m in the air, 480 miles — a Friday-evening departure still leaves you most of the evening in San Diego. Two nights works.
With roughly 15 departures a day, you are not tied to one flight: if a meeting overruns or the weather turns, there is another one behind it.
About San Diego
From balmy beaches with a laid-back attitude to a gleaming modern image, San Diego offers much for the tourist to enjoy. Situated on the Southern California seacoast, San Diego is the second largest city in the state, with 1.4 million residents (2020), and has long attracted travelers for its ideal climate, miles of beaches, and location on the Mexican border right across from Tijuana.
Summary from Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA).
Top things to do in San Diego
- The San Diego Zoo is a zoo in San Diego, California, United States, located in Balboa Park.
- The San Diego Zoo Safari Park is a zoo and safari park in San Pasqual Valley, in the northern part of the city of San Diego, California, United States.
- Balboa Park is a 1,200-acre (490 ha) historic urban cultural park in San Diego, California. Placed in reserve in 1835, the park's site is one of the oldest in the United States dedicated to public recreational use.
- SeaWorld San Diego is a theme park in Mission Bay Park in San Diego, California. It is a marine mammal park, oceanarium, public aquarium, and marine animal rehabilitation center.
- The San Diego Museum of Art is a fine art museum in Balboa Park in San Diego, California, that houses a broad collection with particular strength in Spanish art.
- Cabrillo National Monument is a U.S. national monument at the southern tip of the Point Loma peninsula in San Diego, California.
- The Timken Museum of Art is a fine art museum in Balboa Park in San Diego, California, close to the San Diego Museum of Art. It was established in 1965.
- Legoland California Resort is a theme park in Carlsbad, California, United States, about 35 miles north of San Diego. Opening on March 20, 1999, it was the first Legoland park to open outside of Europe.
- The San Diego Air & Space Museum (SDASM) is an aviation and space exploration museum in San Diego, California.
- The Museum of Us is a museum of anthropology located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. The museum is housed in the historic landmark buildings of the California Quadrangle.
- St. Joseph Cathedral is a Catholic cathedral in the Cortez Hill neighborhood of San Diego, California, in the United States. It is the seat of the Diocese of San Diego.
- The San Diego Natural History Museum is a museum in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It was founded in 1874 as the San Diego Society of Natural History.
Attraction descriptions from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA); place data from Wikidata (CC0).
San Diego weather, compared with Sacramento
4° cooler than Sacramento on average across the year, on daytime highs:
- January
- San Diego 66°F · Sacramento 55°F · 11° warmer
- April
- San Diego 68°F · Sacramento 72°F · 4° colder
- July
- San Diego 75°F · Sacramento 93°F · 18° colder
- October
- San Diego 74°F · Sacramento 78°F · 4° colder
San Diego is the steadier of the two, moving 12° between its coldest and warmest months where Sacramento moves 38°.
Daily highs averaged from Meteostat station records (CC BY 4.0), measured at each city's airport.
Planning a trip to San Diego
- Best time to visit
- San Diego is comfortable to visit year-round, with daytime highs averaging around 70°F.
- How long to stay
- San Diego rewards a longer visit — a full week lets you explore its many sights, from San Diego Zoo, San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and Balboa Park (San Diego) and beyond.
Frequently asked questions
- Is there a direct flight from Sacramento to San Diego?
- Yes — you can fly nonstop from Sacramento (SMF) to San Diego (SAN) on Alaska, Southwest.
- Which airlines fly nonstop from Sacramento to San Diego?
- Alaska, Southwest fly nonstop between Sacramento (SMF) and San Diego (SAN).
- How many nonstop flights are there from Sacramento to San Diego?
- There are about 15 nonstop departures per day (roughly 105 per week) from Sacramento to San Diego.
- How far is San Diego from Sacramento?
- San Diego is about 480 miles from Sacramento by air.
- What is there to do in San Diego?
- Popular things to do include San Diego Zoo, San Diego Zoo Safari Park, Balboa Park (San Diego), SeaWorld San Diego, and more.
More nonstop destinations from Sacramento near San Diego
Airports near Sacramento
The closest other departure airports to Sacramento — each opens up more nonstop destinations.