Your best option to fly into San Diego from the West Coast is Southwest Airlines.
They have many daily flights from the Bay Area via San Jose (SJC) or Oakland.
You get very cheap fares by purchasing the ticket 14 days before departure. Here's the flight schedule and reservation page.
San Diego Airport is about a half hour away from the Campus.
The Los Angeles International Airport is located about 113 miles north of UCSD.
Flying into LAX typically gives you more flight options, but the ground transportation from the
airport to USCD will take much more time, definitely hours, and traffic can make you regret flying into LAX.
For a shuttle, follow the signs for "Ground Transportation" at the terminal and an agent will
redirect you to the correct shuttle stop.
Here is one shuttle option (Cloud 9) from San Diego Airport to UCSD.
They accept all the
major credit cards. The UCSD campus is located about 14 miles north of the
airport.
If you are driving North(South) on I-5 get off at exit #28B "La Jolla Village
Dr" and make a left (right)
at the end of the ramp. Pass the intersection with
"Villa La Jolla Dr" and the campus entrance and the
Gilman
visitor center will be immediately on your right.
After exiting the airport, follow the directions for 405-South. After about
40miles this freeway merges into 5-South.
After about 65 more miles you will be
very close to UCSD. Take the exit #28 "La Jolla Village Dr", make a right
at the
end of the ramp. Pass the traffic light at "Villa La Jolla Drive", and follow the
directions on your right that take
you to the Gilman Entrance of the campus.
On weekdays you need a parking permit to park in
the Yellow and Green parking lots.
Parking is free on
weekends and holidays unless otherwise specified at the lots.
Parking permits cost $6 a day and can be purchased from machines on campus.
You can locate all buildings and parking lots by visiting the UCSD interactive map and entering the name of the building or the parking lot number.