Despite being in sunny California, winter time here in San Diego can be pretty robust. Like just about every other city or state in America, there are a multitude of ice rinks that are available for public use during the winter months. The two we will be focusing on are the UTC ice rink, which also doubles as a hockey/ figure skating rink, and the Viejas ice rink. 

What I look for in an ice rink is a plane of ice (obviously) with a good atmosphere. That’s not too much to ask for, in my humble opinion, and must say that these two rings perfectly meet those standards. They’re ice rinks so I’m sure you can infer that there’s ice, that’s once checked, but what about the atmosphere?

UTCs Ice rink can be overseen in the food court of the mall in a fishbowl-like fashion. The rink itself is pretty spacious and is pretty open for your fastest speeds if at a low capacity. On the contrary, though, when even just 15 people also come onto the ice, apprehensive and slow, it begins to get a little crowded pretty quickly. This is to be expected in any public event, but I paid $60 for two people so after a while it got pretty irritating. On a more positive note, there were more experienced workers that’d politely come up to you and give you tips on technique (hence the hockey and figure skating lessons that go on when it’s closed to the public.) My friend, who was much less experienced than I, took these tips and applied them pretty flawlessly which was all thanks to the kind employee. I found it convenient that there were choices between figure skates and hockey skates as well as lockers that were pretty cheap to keep your things in. After my friend and I were done we went upstairs and ate at the food court. If I didn’t have to pay $30 then I’d definitely recommend it as the best ice rink in San Diego.

Another great option, and frankly the cheaper of the two, is Viejas outlets in Alpine. It’s a mall but in the center of the mall sits the ice rink. In order to skate you must pay 10 dollars, not a bad price but don’t expect the ice rink to be empty as it gets packed pretty quick. 

Overall, despite this review only having two options I think we give two pretty good contenders as far as ice rinks go. They both have a good atmosphere and are in malls which allows you to go out and pursue other activities before and/ or after!