Scripps Coastal Reserve

John Muir College is one of the seven undergraduate colleges at the University of California San Diego (UCSD). The college is named after John Muir, the environmentalist and founder of the Sierra Club. It has a humanitarian emphasis focused on the "spirit of self-sufficiency and individual choice." The college opened in 1967, at the height of the American environmental movement triggered in part by Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring. John Muir College describes itself as the "Heart of UCSD" and boasts a strong and distinct character after fifty years of existence.

Revelle College is the oldest residential college at the University of California, San Diego in La Jolla, California. Founded in 1964, it is named after oceanographer and UC San Diego founder Roger Revelle. UC San Diego—along with Revelle College—was founded at the height of the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union. As a result, the initial class of 181 undergraduates comprised only 30 non-science majors. Revelle College focuses on developing "a well-rounded student who is intellectually skilled and prepared for competition in a complex world." Revelle's general education requirements are rigorously structured in the tradition of a classical liberal arts college. Revelle's stated goal of creating "Renaissance scholars" is reflected in these requirements, which ensure that a graduate has experience in humanities, calculus, physical science, biology, social science, a fine art, and a foreign language. Revelle College's core writing course, Humanities (HUM), is a challenging Western Civilization course that incorporates writing, history and other social science requirements into a five-quarter (12⁄3 year) sequence through which students examine the greater social and literary developments throughout Western culture. In 2014, the college celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. The same year, UCSD Housing and Dining opened a new dining commons named "64 Degrees" to replace the old Plaza Cafe and Incredi-Bowls food truck. Most of the Revelle residential campus was renovated from 2009 to 2015.

Camp Callan was a United States Army anti-aircraft artillery replacement training center that was operational during World War II. It was located on the southern west coast of the United States, north of San Diego at La Jolla, California. The facility was closed shortly after the war ended and few traces of the base remain.

Birch Aquarium at Scripps (sometimes referred to as Scripps Aquarium or Birch Aquarium) is an aquarium and the public outreach center for Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. Accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Birch Aquarium at Scripps has an annual attendance of more than 439,000, including more than 40,000 school children, and features more than 3,000 animals representing 380 species. The hilltop site provides views of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography campus and the Pacific Ocean. The mission of the aquarium reads: "At Birch Aquarium at Scripps, we connect understanding to protecting our ocean planet".

The J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) is a non-profit genomics research institute founded by J. Craig Venter, Ph.D. in October 2006. The Institute was the result of consolidating four organizations: the Center for the Advancement of Genomics, The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR), the Institute for Biological Energy Alternatives, and the J. Craig Venter Science Foundation Joint Technology Center. It has facilities in Rockville, Maryland and La Jolla, California. The Institute studies the societal implications of genomics in addition to genomics itself. The Institute's research involves genomic medicine; environmental genomic analysis; clean energy; synthetic biology; and ethics, law, and economics. The Institute employs over 200 people, including Nobel laureate Hamilton Smith. It was sold to the University of California, San Diego in 2022.

La Jolla Playhouse is a not-for-profit, professional theatre on the campus of the University of California, San Diego.

The Mandell Weiss Theatre is located on the campus of the University of California San Diego in La Jolla, California. The Center houses La Jolla Playhouse events.

The Stuart Collection is a collection of public art on the campus of the University of California San Diego. Founded in 1981, the Stuart Collection's goal is to spread commissioned sculpture throughout the campus, including both traditional sculptures and site-specific works integrating with features of the campus such as landscaping and buildings. It is supported by the UCSD Department of Visual Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and many private organizations and individuals. The collection was conceived by and named after its initial benefactor, James Stuart DeSilva. Since its creation, it has been administered by Director Mary L. Beebe. It contains nineteen works, with numerous others planned that have not or never will come to fruition. The first work added to the collection was Niki de Saint Phalle's Sun God, and the most recent addition is Mark Bradford's What Hath God Wrought?

Sun God is a monumental statue by French-American sculptor Niki de Saint Phalle located on the campus of the University of California San Diego. The figurative sculpture is a 14-foot (4.3 m) multicolored bird-like creature, perched atop a 15-foot (4.6 m) tall arch-shaped, vine-covered concrete pedestal. Erected in February 1983 as the first of the Stuart Collection of public art projects, the polyester and fiberglass Sun God has become a notable feature of the UCSD campus. It is located on a grassy area between the Faculty Club and Mandeville Auditorium, on the eastern periphery of the John Muir College campus. Since the 1980s, the UCSD Associated Students organization has sponsored an annual event, the Sun God Festival, with the statue as its official mascot. Over the years, numerous visual-arts students have accessorized the statue with items such as sunglasses; a cap and gown; an ID card; a large, water-spraying phallus; and even a nest with eggs painted in the statue's trademark bright colors.

Fallen Star is an art installation by South Korean artist Do Ho Suh on the grounds of the University of California San Diego. It is a cottage perched at an angle off the edge of the main Jacobs School of Engineering building (Jacobs Hall). The structure was installed at UC San Diego in July 2012 and has become one of the icons of the campus' Stuart Collection of public art. It is visible from Geisel Library and Warren Mall. The life-size installation weighs nearly 70,000 pounds and provides views of Geisel Library, Bruce Nauman's Vices and Virtues, the surrounding region and the campus' eucalyptus groves. The attraction can be accessed on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11AM until 2PM by visiting the seventh floor of Jacobs Hall (EBU-I). A small landscaped garden with East Coast plants surrounds a brick path leading to the front door. Inside, the 15 ft × 18 ft house slopes at a 5° angle and is fully furnished. It has been given the fake address 72 Blue Heron Way.Fallen Star forces visitors to juxtapose the comforts of home with the unsettling impersonal nature of a large academic institution. In 2016, it was the subject of a 50-minute documentary produced by the artist and directed by Vera Brunner-Sung and Valerie Stadler, titled Fallen Star: Finding Home.

KSDT is an online college radio station which refers to itself as "fiercely independent college radio". Its facilities are located on the campus of the University of California San Diego in La Jolla. KSDT is completely student run and operated. Its community comprises staff members, DJs, interns, practice room members and general fans. The station regularly conducts interviews and studio sessions with San Diego and Southern California artists, as well as hosts off-the-air concerts, open mics and poetry readings. It publishes a quarterly zine featuring pictures from recent events, music opinion pieces and album reviews, as well as community art and poetry.

The Ché Café is a worker co-operative, social center, and live music venue located on the University of California San Diego campus in La Jolla, California, USA. Zack de la Rocha described the Ché Café as "A place that is not only a great venue, but a source of inspiration and community building for any artist, student, or worker that has entered its doors."