Editorial Review of
Sunny Jim Cave
With such a unique name its no wonder this natural and man-made cave is one of La Jolla most famous hot spots. The cave features six natural entrances and one man-made entrance that was dug out at the very beginning of the 20th century. Gustav Schultz was the founder of the man-made entrance that took over two years to complete. The man-made entrance is now owned and operated by the Cave Store with charges $3-$4 for admission. This is the only sea cave on the California coast that is accessible by land. The sea naturally dug out the Sunny Jim cave over a period of 200,000 years as evidenced by the beautiful coloring and deposits of iron oxide, vegetable and kelp in the rock walls. However, it wasn’t named the Sunny Jim cave until L. Frank Baum, author of The Wizard of Oz, noticed that the main entrance looked like a cereal box mascot “Sunny Jim.” Precautions should be taken whether visiting the cave by sea or land entrance with appropriate footwear and gear and a camera to capture all the magic.