Harbor Island is a man-made

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...

created in 1961 from harbor dredgings, located in

San Diego Bay San Diego Bay is a natural harbor and deepwater port located in San Diego County, California near the U.S.–Mexico border. The bay, which is long and wide, is the third largest of the three large, protected natural bays on California's of c ...

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

. It lies between Shelter Island and

Downtown San Diego Downtown San Diego is the city center of San Diego, California, the eighth largest city in the United States. In 2010, the Centre City area had a population of more than 28,000. Downtown San Diego serves as the cultural and financial center and ...

, and is directly across Harbor Drive from San Diego Airport. It is long and only a few hundred feet wide. A single road, Harbor Island Drive, runs from one end of Harbor Island to the other and connects it to the mainland. The "island" includes several

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...

s which harbor thousands of small boats, as well as several restaurants, two high-rise hotels, and Harbor Island Drive Park. It is under the control of the

Port of San Diego The Port of San Diego is a seaport in San Diego, California. It is located on San Diego Bay in southwestern San Diego County, California, and is a self-supporting district established in 1962 by an act of the California State Legislature. In add ...

, which owns all the land and provides municipal services such as police, road maintenance, etc. Harbor Island businesses lease their location from the Port. Under

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

law, property on Harbor Island cannot be sold and permanent residences cannot be built there, because the area falls under the law governing public

tidelands Tidelands are the territory between the tide line of sea coasts, and lands lying under the sea beyond the low-water limit of the tide, considered within the territorial waters of a nation. The United States Constitution does not specify whether ...

.Limitations on State Disposal of Lands
/ref>

References

External links

topographic map
* {{Neighborhoods of San Diego Neighborhoods in San Diego Peninsulas of California San Diego Bay