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Events such as the America's Cup remind us how easy it is to enjoy the sights on San Diego Bay

In 1542, a Portuguese explorer named Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo went looking for China. Instead, he discovered San Diego and literally put the city on the map.

Today, more than 450 years later, the 1995 America's Cup race is bringing another wave of explorers to California's first port city. Only this time, it's no accident.

Visitors cheering on cup entries from Australia, France, Japan, New Zealand, and Spain are discovering that San Diego is not only the perfect setting for yachting's most prestigious race - which takes place this month - but also a great place for fresh seafood, shopping, and strolls along the bay.

San Diego Bay is practically ringed by parks and bike paths, from Shelter Island in Point Loma to Seaport Village downtown. A bridge, a pedestrian ferry, and a water taxi link downtown with Coronado across the bay, and Harbor Drive links downtown with Point Loma. Public boat ramps are plentiful, as is parking. All of which makes a day exploring San Diego Bay a largely hassle-free experience.

DOWNTOWN WATERFRONT

Begin at the San Diego Convention Center, with its signature rooftop that incorporates canvas sails into a contemporary nautical design. There you will see Dennis Conner's America's Cup Base Camp (619/235-5300), home to the $3-million Stars & Stripes. Visit Conner's gallery to view his collection of America's Cup models. Next door is Chart House at the Historic Rowing Club (233-7391), a restaurant popular with yachtsmen and women staying at the nearby San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina (230-8955).

From here, walk north along the boardwalk to Seaport Village (235-4013), a 14-acre outdoor mall with more than 60 shops and restaurants. Meandering footpaths weave through the mall, in some places around small manmade ponds and lakes. The most popular attraction is the turn-of-the-century Broadway Flying Horses Carousel, which attracts 400,000 riders a year.

Seaport Village's Harbor House (232-1141) and San Diego Pier Cafe (239-3968), which rests on pilings over the bay, both serve fresh seafood and are good spots to watch the sun set. For nautical gifts, try Captain's Cove (234-5050); for nautical togs, try Dockside Apparel (696-7380). And if you didn't come to the water's edge to shop, wander through Embarcadero Marina Park, which is adjacent to the village and overlooks the boating activity on the bustling bay.

From Seaport Village you can hop a water taxi (235-8294; $5 per person each way) to Coronado. It departs at noon, 2, 4, and 6 from Fish Harbor Pier for Ferry Landing Marketplace, Le Meridien Resort, and Glorietta Bay Marina. On-call service is also available to Shelter Island and Harbor Island.

Adjacent to Seaport Village is Tuna Harbor, home of the American Tunaboat Association. A handful of working tuna boats anchors here, but the onetime huge fleet has dwindled, and most boats now have foreign registry. Busier is the Fish Market Restaurant (619/232-3474) at the harbor. It's a popular spot with San Diegans, thanks to its oyster bar, sushi bar, two dining rooms overlooking the bay, and fresh-fish market.

Continuing north, you'll come to Broadway Pier, usually identified by the Navy ships that are often in port and open for tours on weekends. From here, you can catch the San Diego-Coronado Ferry (234-4111; $2 each way, 50 cents extra for bikes) to Coronado's Ferry Landing Market-place. Ferries depart every hour from 9 to 9 (till 10 weekends) and can accommodate bicycles when space is available. Cycling is a good way to go because Coronado has almost 15 miles of dedicated bike paths along its waterfront.

About 1/2 mile farther north is the San Diego Maritime Museum (234-9153), with its four-boat fleet. The 1863 Star of India, the museum's three-masted centerpiece, is the oldest active iron-hulled ship afloat. The Berkeley, an 1898 ferryboat, has exhibits and a good gift shop. In honor of the race, the current exhibition, Age of Russia, features a dry-docked America's Cup yacht formerly owned by the 1992 Russian team.

POINT LOMA AREA

Harbor Island's proximity to the airport accounts for the large number of waterfront hotels and restaurants here. Despite all the development, it remains a beautiful place to park your car, walk past picturesque marinas, and look across the bay for an unobstructed view of the city's skyline. For a closer look, get out on the water. Harbor Island Sailboats (291-9568) rents everything from 19- to 51-footers - newcomers are required to take a quiz and have their docking prowess checked out, but it's smooth sailing thereafter.

After leaving Harbor land, head west on Harbor Drive. To your left you'll see signs heralding the berth of Americas (4960 N. Harbor; 221-2100), the first all-woman entry in the America's Cup. The team has set up a cup boutique Where visitors can purchase team gear and memorabilia. No doubt team members carbo-load on gourmet wood-fired pizza at Pizza Nova (5120 N. Harbor: 226-0268) a few doors away. Directly adjacent is John Tarantino's (5150 N. Harbor; 224-3555), a family-owned Italian and seafood restaurant open for lunch and dinner (though the owner has been serving a private breakfast daily to the women's team since last June).

Continue on Harbor, then veer south onto Scott Street. On your left you'll see California's largest sportfishing center. It is the best place on the bay to arrange daily fishing trips, nature expeditions, and pleasure charters. Walk west a few blocks along the boardwalk (sometimes through hundreds of frozen yellowtail and dorado unloaded by boats just returned from a week's fishing off Mexico), and you'll reach H & M Landing (2803 Enterson Street; 222-1144), the oldest of the four landings. Point Loma Seafoods (2805 Emerson; 223-1109), next door, is a great place for a fresh fish sandwich (or fillet) to go.

Scott and Rosecrans streets run through the heart of Point Loma's commercial center. Seabreeze Nautical Books and Charts (1254 Scott: 223-8989) features a large selection of quality marine books and unusual gifts - from original artwork to handmade jewelry. Old Venice Restaurante (2910 Canon Street, between Scott and Rosecrans; 619/222-5888) has a wonderful menu of seafood pasta dishes served in a European atmosphere (the America(3) crew gets a discount here). Nearby in a landmark Victorian house is Care 1018 (1018 Rosecrans; 523-1018), which serves contemporary natural foods and coffees; diners can sit inside or on the patio.

The nerve center of the America's Cup is Shelter Island. As you head east on Shelter Island Drive, you'll pass two hangouts of America's Cup crew members who have set up shop at America's Cup Harbor. Fiddler's Green (2760 Shelter Island; 222-2216) and Brigantine (2725 Shelter Island; 224-2871) are both family-owned restaurants run by yachtsmen who are members of the nearby San Diego Yacht Club, the host of the America's Cup. Below The Brig, as it's known, are the offices of the event organizer, America's Cup '95 (call 221-1212 for daily race results and schedules), and two America's Cup stores that sell official team items. America's Cup Pavilion, just across the street, has race information.

CORONADO

No trip to San Diego Bay is complete without a visit to Coronado. Around Ferry Landing Marketplace - the main drop-off for both ferry and water taxi - you'll find numerous waterfront boutiques, restaurants, bicycle rental shops, and an information center. Peohe's (437-4474) is a restaurant with limited docking facilities for visiting yachts (available first-come, first-served). Bay Beach Cafe (435-4900), a popular seafood restaurant, is decorated with owner Steve Lindsey's America's Cup memorabilia.

The main draw in downtown Coronado has always been the century-old Hotel del Coronado (1500 Orange Avenue; 800/468-3533), but a more overtly nautical destination is Loews Coronado Bay Resort (4000 Coronado Bay Road; 619/424-4000) in South Bay on the Silver Strand. Loews is a self-contained resort, with posh waterfront accommodations, docking facilities, three restaurants, a handful of boutiques, and kayak and sailboard rentals - kind of a San Diego Bay in microcosm.