California oysters from the Carlsbad Aquafarm at the Hollywood Farmers Market

California oysters from the Carlsbad Aquafarm at the Hollywood Farmers' Market

On our way back out of San Diego, we decided to try and visit the Carlsbad Aquafarm. I’d seen them before at the Hollywood Farmers’ Market and while we were down south, they were on every menu of the places we enjoyed most (Stone Brewing World Bistro and The Linkery to be specific). I had read an article that said, quite clearly, that they gave public tours. Sadly, a quick phone call made on the road told us otherwise - no public access. But did we give up? Non! As we approached the exit, I decided that even though I wouldn’t be able to examine the harvest tanks and water testing facilities myself, I could probably get a decent peek at the farm from a safe and legal distance. How hard could it be?

Where the ocean enters to feed the little mollusks

Where the ocean enters to feed the little mollusks

As you drive along the coast in Carlsbad, you begin to notice that there really aren’t a whole lot of places where one could potentially hide an aquafarm. There also aren’t a lot of possible access roads that would get you a decent vantage point, making your surveillance choices a bit easier. Carlsbad Blvd., even though it abuts a state beach, is not terribly pedestrian friendly (a little dangerous, actually). But if you find the point where the cool Pacific gently tides in and out of the Carlsbad lagoon, you’ll find the Carlsbad Aquafarm. The water is an almost island-like blue and swimming along the edges, you’ll see the bright orange blobs of the California State Fish, the Garibaldi, swimming in between broken pieces of kelp along the man-made rocky shoreline.

We drove past the inlet and took the first street into the residential areas above the water. At the top, a small road gave us the perfect, and probably closest, view we could get of the aquafarm’s operations.

The Carlsbad Aquafarm facilities

Left:The artificial reefs of the aquafarm Very far right ont he opposite shore: The Carlsbad Aquafarm facilities

That power plant in the background is one piece of the anti-access puzzle – the farm shares an access road with the power plant and the entrance is restricted to personnel only due to strict security guidelines. These are, perhaps, the safest and most well-guarded shellfish in the nation, at least from the terrestrial side. But the power plant also serves a second function. It uses the inlet water to cool its turbines. The warmed discharge from that process is used for the farm’s abalone tanks (the water is very clean btw, and tested regularly).

The view from the street above the inlet was quite lovely and it was nice to see, even if from a distance, an active aquafarm operation that had achieved some serious culinary cred among the locavores of SoCal. Talking to the operators would have been grand, and I may try again in the future, but for now, this will do.

Carlsbad Aquafarm
4600 Carlsbad Blvd.
Carlsbad, CA 92008
(760) 438-2444