What it was like
The Hotel del Coronado has been doing this since before outdoor cinema was a trend: movies on the beach, on actual sand, with the Pacific in the peripheral vision and private bonfires for the people who plan ahead.
Summer 2026 lineup runs every Sunday through late October. Films skew toward crowd pleasers with cultural weight: Top Gun Maverick on the beach where it was filmed, Grease on sand under the same sky every drive-in scene was reaching for, Raiders of the Lost Ark with the ocean wind doing what it does to outdoor audio. The setting is the point. The movie is the occasion.
Screenings start at 7:30pm. Reserve a bonfire if you want one. The beach fills earlier than you expect.