[3] SeaWorld was founded in 1964 by Milton Shedd, Ken Norris, David Demott and George Millay.

When the underwater restaurant concept was deemed unfeasible, they scrapped those plans and decided to build a park instead, and SeaWorld San Diego was opened on March 21, 1964.

With a few dolphins, sea lions, six attractions and 22 acres (89,000 m2), the park proved to be a success and more than 400,000 guests visited in the first 12 months.

After InBev acquired Anheuser-Busch, it sold SeaWorld San Diego and the rest of the company's theme parks to the Blackstone Group in December 2009.

The realm originally featured Submarine Quest, an outdoor people mover-like ride with indoor segments, themed around deep sea exploration.

[5][6][7] When the park re-opened on April 13, 2021, demolition of the ride track and show buildings began, leaving the animal enclosures intact.

[13] The ride gives passengers a six-minute view of SeaWorld and San Diego via rising at a rate of 150 feet per minute (46 m/min) while spinning slowly (1.02 rpm).

Arctic Rescue has 3 launches, reaching a high speed of 40 miles per hour (64 km/h), and has a track length of 2,800 feet (850 m), and its straddle seating imitates the feeling of riding a snowmobile.

[18] On May 26, 2012, SeaWorld San Diego opened a new mega-attraction called Manta, a Mack launched roller coaster featuring two launches LSM of up to 43 miles per hour (69 km/h) accompanied by a bat ray aquarium and shallow touch pool for touching bat rays, white sturgeons, and shovelnose guitarfish.

[25] SeaWorld's Wild Arctic is home to various species of cold water animals, including beluga whales, walruses, Polar bears, Harbor seals, and southern sea otters.

SeaWorld San Diego has 19 fresh and saltwater aquariums, each housing different types of aquatic animals.

This aquarium is home to marine animals including Moray eels, octopuses, and Japanese spider crabs.

SeaWorld Entertainment purchased one of the Cedar Fair-owned "Knott's Soak City" water parks in late 2012.