Starbucks San Diego mug: Discovery Series

By The Starbucks Cups team · Last checked 2026-11-14 · How we make these pages

Starbucks Discovery Series San Diego mug with a roller skater, sea lion, orange fish, taco, palm trees and lifeguard tower around the words SAN DIEGO — Front view · numbered markers match the list below Show markers

The San Diego Discovery Series mug shows the Hotel del Coronado and the Old Point Loma Lighthouse, a wooden roller coaster, Comic-Con panels, a sea lion, a garibaldi, a taco and a roller skater.

Series: Discovery Series
Place: San Diego, California, USA
Type: Mug
Released: Not confirmed
Capacity: 14 fl ozStarbucks's Discovery Series launch story calls it the 14-ounce ceramic mug
SKU: Not confirmed

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Twenty-two years to protect one bright orange fish

In 1971, California's Department of Fish and Game recommended that the Legislature fully protect the garibaldi ^[2]. For the next twenty-two years, according to California Diving News, commercial collectors kept taking the bright orange fish, which hobbyists loved and which was easy to catch ^[2]^[3]. Assembly Bill 77 was introduced in 1994 to put a collecting moratorium in place, and Governor Pete Wilson signed it on October 16, 1995 ^[2]. The same law named the garibaldi California's state marine fish ^[4]. Taking one now requires a special permit, not just a fishing license ^[2]. A male picks a stretch of reef as an adult and lives there for the rest of his life ^[3]. The name is believed to come from Giuseppe Garibaldi, the Italian leader whose army wore red and orange into battle ^[3]. The orange fish leaping across the top of the San Diego mug (3) may be one.

The mug does not label its drawings, so connecting this one to the story is our reading.

What's on the mug

1
Roller skater
A woman with red hair, a maroon top and yellow shorts glides on blue quad roller skates with striped socks. The same figure wraps round to the side face, where she wears sunglasses and reaches toward the comic panels. She may refer to skating on the beach boardwalks, but the mug doesn't say so.
2
Sea lion
A blue sea lion with yellow dots and a tail flipper raised curls across the top left, above the lettering. The mug doesn't say where it lives.
3
Leaping fish
An orange fish with pink fins leaps at the top centre. It looks like a garibaldi, California's official state marine fish since 1995, which lives on rocky reefs from Monterey Bay to Baja California. The mug doesn't name it.^[1]
4
Taco and hot sauce
A taco with a yellow shell and a blue-and-orange filling sits above the lettering. Beside it are an orange bottle of hot sauce with a chili on the label and a dark citrus slice. The mug doesn't say what the taco is filled with.
5
Ornate lamp post
A pale blue lamp post with curling arms carries five bulbs in orange, yellow and pink, each with a striped base and short rays around it. It stands at the top right, beside the handle.
6
Palm trees and cliffs
Palm trees stand on a yellow headland beside orange-and-purple layered sea cliffs, with a white stairway running down toward the water. A row of small palms and a bay line the shore behind them. The mug doesn't name the stretch of coast.
7
Lifeguard tower
A lifeguard tower with a teal-blue deck, railing and tall legs stands on the sand at the bottom left, beside a curving yellow path with white lines that the skater rolls along.
8
Pedal cart
A pedal cart with a canopy and bicycle wheels stands at the right, partly hidden by the handle.
9
Lettering
SAN DIEGO in yellow capitals over a dark green circle.
10
Comic panels and mask Side view
Two comic-book panels with POW and BOOM bursts, a lightning bolt and stars hang mid-scene, with a dark purple eye mask below them. This may nod to Comic-Con, the comic book convention held every year in San Diego. The mug doesn't name it.^[8]
11
Orange-leaved tree Side view
A tree with a purple trunk and clusters of orange and yellow leaves spreads across the top of this face. We can't match it to a particular tree. The mug doesn't name it.
12
Hotel that looks like the Hotel del Coronado Side view
A large beachfront hotel with a red conical roof, a small cupola on top, rows of dormer windows and long pale wings sits on the sand. The tall red cone looks like the Hotel del Coronado, the Victorian beach resort in Coronado across the bay from downtown San Diego. The mug doesn't name it.^[5]^[9]
13
Beach umbrellas Side view
Striped beach umbrellas, loungers, folding chairs, towels and a beach ball fill the sand along the bottom.
14
Wooden coaster frame Side view
The teal lattice of the roller coaster from the back face curves in at the far left edge. It is the same coaster as element 17. See there for the identification and its limit.
15
Kite Back view
A red, orange and purple diamond kite flies on a long ribbon tail, with small clouds around it.
16
Lighthouse that looks like Old Point Loma Back view
A white lantern room with a gallery and a red dome rises from the roof of a pale blue house with an orange roof and a lit window, with flowers in front. This tower-on-a-house shape looks like the Old Point Loma Lighthouse, where the keepers and their families lived. It also appears at the far left of the side face. The mug doesn't name it.^[6]
17
Wooden roller coaster Back view
A wooden roller coaster with a teal lattice frame, a small train with riders and pennant flags sweeps up beside the lighthouse and wraps round to the side face (element 14). It may be the Giant Dipper at Belmont Park in Mission Beach, San Diego's wooden coaster, but stylised art could stand for any coaster. The mug doesn't name it.^[7]^[10]
18
Anchor Back view
A purple anchor with a rope trailing from it hangs at the left, with water drops splashing off. The rope runs down into the bowl of spaghetti (element 19). The mug doesn't say what it stands for.
19
Spaghetti Back view
A plate of spaghetti with a dark purple, white-flecked topping (perhaps meatballs or sauce) sits on a blue plate at the bottom left, where the anchor's rope ends. It may be a nod to Little Italy, where, according to the district's association, more than 6,000 Italian families once lived and helped build San Diego into a centre of the tuna industry. The mug doesn't say.^[11]
20
Pier Side view
A pier with a dark deck, railing and buildings on a yellow base stands behind the skater, with palms and a street lamp with a seagull on it. Its deck also shows at the left of the front face, behind the skater's legs. We can't tell which San Diego pier it is. The mug doesn't name it.
21
Tall pale blue building
A pale blue multi-storey building with rows of white windows stands on the headland in front of the green circle.
22
Starbucks wordmark Back view
STARBUCKS printed in grey capitals with a registered mark, running vertically beside the handle on the back face.

The front, side and back photos together cover the full wrap; only the strip directly behind the handle is hidden.

Collector notes

San Diego also appears in the Been There, Icon and You Are Here checklists; match the series name in the listing before you buy.
The inside of the mug is light blue in this photo, taken from slightly above. Not every listing shows the inside, so ask for it if the colour matters to you.

Before you buy

San Diego also appears in the Been There, Icon and You Are Here series, so match the series name in the listing. The inside of this mug is light blue in our photo, and not every listing shows it, so ask if the color matters to you.