DEAFENING cackles erupted from the trees. I and a small crowd of fellow onlookers did our best to keep straight faces but like an infectious spell, we were soon doubled up and laughing away with the kookaburras. It’s easy to be amused at San Diego Zoo.

I was on a Backstage Pass to what San Diegans modestly call the “best zoo in the world” set in the lush enclave of 1,200-acre Balboa Park.

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The zoo has more than 4,000 animals in its 100 acres, and is so vast it offers a cable car network for easy viewing. As well as laughing with the kookaburras I fed biscuits to slobbering giraffes and rhinos and howled with a white wolf. One of the highlights was the Panda Canyon where the extraordinarily laid-back Bai Yun flopped against her tree munching a bamboo branch and gave a satisfied grin for the camera.

With 70 miles of coastline and mild temperatures all year round, the possibilities for fun are endless in San Diego. I stayed in Del Mar, North County’s ritziest seaside suburb only a 30-minute drive north of the city. My bolthole was the plush Grand Del Mar hotel, a sprawling hacienda-style complex with spacious rooms and extreme cossetting fromt he staff.

In the fitness centre a man appeared at the treadmill with a tray of fridge-fresh flannels to soothe my boiling brow.
An attendant met me at the hotel pool brandishing ice-cold water and fluffy towels before positioning my sunlounger for maximum tanning potential.
The attention to detail is such that even the sewing kits have ready-threaded needles.

Del Mar was put on the map by its racetrack, founded in 1937 by Bing Crosby and Jimmy Durante, a playground for the glitterati with lush gardens and pink, Mediterranean-style architecture.

Today Del Mar and the neighbouring districts of La Jolla and Solana reflect this glitzy heritage. Brimming with art galleries and boutiques and with tongue-and-groove, pastel-perfect houses lining every street, it is obvious that attractive with an aromatic blend of pine and eucalyptus all the more fragrant on the beaches where smoking is banned.
Some 15 minutes north of the city is La Jolla with its stunning arches, colonnades, palm trees, red-tiled roofs and pale stucco.

The scenery’s not bad either with sea caves and pretty, sheltered beaches such as La Jolla Cove. Basking seals line the rocks but I found it best to view them from a distance. Let’s just say the whiff was a little “ripe”. Brockton Villa Restaurant overlooking the cove proved the perfect vantage point. A beautifully converted beach bungalow with layered sun decks lined with fairy lights made the most of the fantastic views. I made short work of its signature dish of French toast with fresh fruit and maple syrup.

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The beating heart of downtown San Diego has to be the harbour where I boarded the Stars and Stripes, a former America’s Cup-winning racing yacht. For £63 I took part in a thrilling race and learnt to tack, jibe and grind.

San Diego is the biggest naval port in the world. At one point our yacht passed beneath the enormous USS Midway, a decommissioned aircraft carrier which is now a museum. We were dwarfed by its imposing hull.

A ferry from the harbour also connects downtown San Diego with Coronado, renowned for its Victorian Hotel Del Coronado or “The Del”, the location for the movie Some Like It Hot, with Marilyn Monroe.

I hired a cycle from Bikes & Beyond at the Ferry Port and headed off along the coastal track passing tiny coves and pretty streets.

San Diego’s trendy Gaslamp Quarter is renowned for its music. As I feasted on delicious “short rib” (slow-cooked rib of beef) at Croce’s Restaurant & Jazz Bar, a band belted out smooth dinner jazz.

A few doors away at Patrick’s Bar, Len Rainey & the Midnight Players were in full swing with a rendition of Rollin’ Down The River where the saxophonist’s incredible note- holding was rewarded in dollar bills.

I still had my invitation to Dine With Shamu at SeaWorld to take up before leaving town. I found out that all the Orca whales there are called Shamu but nothing quite prepared me for the shock as I tucked into my seafood creole pasta.

Jets of water suddenly sprayed over the glass partition and a smiling whale’s head appeared inches away. Now that’s what I call a lunch date.

GETTING THERE:

British Airways (0844 493 0758/ ba.com/sandiego) offers three nights at the five-star Grand Del Mar, San Diego from £899pp (two sharing), room only. Price includes return BA flights from Heathrow. Book between October 4 and 18 for departure October 24 to December 6, 2011. Visit California: 020 7257 6180/ visitcalifornia.co.uk