Cami Mattson
President and CEO, San Diego North CVB
What are three outstanding group venues in San Diego North?
- Scripps Seaside Forum: The new Scripps Seaside Forum at Scripps Institute of Oceanography in La Jolla is a state-of-the art venue with 16,500 square feet of meeting space. It has a variety of different meeting spaces, including an auditorium and an outdoor terrace area. Plus, it was designed with a lot of glass, giving it amazing views of the Pacific. It’s also very conducive to green meetings and offers planners a green fact sheet.
- Sea Life Aquarium: A very interesting and unique venue is the new Sea Life Aquarium at Legoland in Carlsbad, which can host up to 200 people and features both real fish and fish made out of Legos. It has 14 themed rooms, including the Discovery Room where guests can interact with marine life experts and touch tide pool creatures. Legoland has begun focusing on meetings and groups, and the new aquarium really expands what they can do.
- Quail Botanical Gardens: Quail Botanical Gardens in Encinitas is a beautiful place for events. It has waterfalls and a variety of gardens with over 4,000 kinds of plants, including the world’s largest bamboo collection. I recently went to a reception there where we went from food station to food station, with music combos along the way.