San Diego California Events. Area focus - Imperial Beach

City: Imperial Beach
Area Population: 26,655
Elevation: 16 feet above sea level
Distance from downtown SD: 14.5 miles southeast

Imperial Beach is a city in San Diego County, California, United States.

Every year the city holds the annual Sand Castles event, which draws about 400,000 people over three days.

The city occupies the extreme southwest corner of the continental United States: bordered by the Pacific Ocean on the west and Mexico on the south.

Known as a biker town for its rough atmosphere and seedy beachfront area throughout the 70s, Imperial Beach has undergone a significant makeover in the last ten years and the city has done much to become more visitor-friendly, commercially viable and overall more aesthetically pleasing. However, the city is still a low-key beach community. For years the city was controlled by pro-growth elected officials, but over the years environmentalists and other activists helped elect a group of smart-growth and no-growth elected officials. The City of Imperial Beach is now implementing an ambitious community redevelopment plan to improve the badly developed commercial corridor along Palm Avenue and Seacoast Drive.

Imperial Beach was the location of fierce environmental battles in the 1970s and 1980s over plans to develop the Tijuana Estuary and build a breakwater to control beach erosion. Former Mayor Brian Bilbray, who later became a U.S. Congressman, lost both battles and the Tijuana Estuary is now a National Estuarine Research Reserve and State Park. The cessation of plans to build the breakwater was officially the first major victory of the then fledgling Surfrider Foundation, now an international organization with 45,000-members. While the International Boundary and Water Commission wastewater plant completed in 1999 has greatly improved water quality during dry weather, the biggest obstacle to the renewal of Imperial Beach is the continued pollution of the Tijuana River and beach closures just south of the city during wet weather.

Surfing is popular in Imperial Beach with activities concentrated north and south of the Imperial Beach Pier and in front of the Tijuana Estuary at the famed Boca Rio beachbreak. The Tijuana Sloughs, a fabled big-wave surf spot is now almost unrideable due to raw toxic sewage that flows into the break from the Tijuana River. WiLDCOAST, a coastal conservation organization based in Imperial Beach, launched a grassroots "Clean Water Now" campaign to support a comprehensive plan to clean up the Tijuana River and reduce beach closures along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Border Field State Park
Imperial Beach, CA 91932 Map

Border Field State Park is on the very southwestern corner of the United States and 15 miles south of San Diego. Border Field is located within the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve, an important wildlife habitat. The sand dunes and salt marshes give refuge to critically threatened and endangered birds such as the Western Snowy Plover, the California Least Tern, and the Light-footed Clapper Rail.

The park provides restrooms, picnic areas, barbecues, horse corrals, and interpretive displays. Visitors enjoy surf fishing, beach combing, hiking, horseback riding, and bird watching. The Park does not recommend swimming or wading, due to hazardous conditions, such as inshore holes, rip currents, and the lack of lifeguard service within the Park.

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was concluded on February 2, 1848, officially ending the U.S./Mexico War. In 1850, delegations from both countries began surveying the boundary at this location and the border monument, number 258, can be viewed on top of Monument Mesa.

Tijuana Estuary Point of Interest
301 Caspian Way
Imperial Beach, CA 91932
(619-575-3613) Map

Tijuana Estuary is a small intertidal coastal estuary on the international border between California and Mexico. The estuary is primarily a shallow water habitat, though it is often termed an "intermittent estuary," as it is subjected to extreme changes in streamflow at different times of the year. Extended periods of drought leave parts of the estuary dry during some periods, while flooding inundates the same areas during others. For this reason, Tijuana Estuary is considered to be a very unique part of the National Estuarine Research Reserve System.

The Tijuana River Estuary is one of the few salt marshes remaining in Southern California, where over 90% of wetland habitat has been lost to development. The site is an essential breeding, feeding and nesting ground and key stopover point on the Pacific Flyway for over 370 species of migratory and native birds, including six endangered species.

The Reserve offers four miles of walking trails, taking visitors into prime bird watching areas and down to the river mouth where the Tijuana River meets the Pacific Ocean. Visitors may explore the park on their own or join one of the free guided nature and bird walks on weekends. The park has BBQ rings, restrooms, and beach access

A marker on the bluff, first placed there in 1851 just after the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, delineates the western beginning of the International Border.

Border Field State Park is located in the southwestern corner of the Reserve, on a bluff overlooking the ocean, the estuary, and the bull ring that lies just south of the U.S./Mexico border.

Directions

From the north:
Take Interstate 5 south to exit 4, Coronado Avenue, in Imperial Beach (not the Coronado Bridge exit). Turn right onto Coronado Ave. and head west for approx. three miles (it becomes Imperial Beach Blvd.). Turn left onto Third Ave. at the four-way stop (you'll see the Reserve's concrete sign). Follow the road around the corner and the Visitor Center will be on the right.

From the south:
Take Interstate 5 north and turn left on Coronado Ave., then follow the directions above.

Library
810 Imperial Beach Boulevard, Imperial Beach, CA 91932
(619-424-6981) Map - Website

Post Office
946 Donax Avenue, Imperial Beach, CA 91932
(800-275-8777) Map

Sheriff
845 Imperial Beach Boulevard, Imperial Beach, CA 91932
(619-498-2400) Map

Vip Village Preschool (Preschool/Kindergarten)
1001 Fern Avenue, Imperial Beach, CA 91932
(619-628-8690) Map - Website

Bayside Elementary School (K-6)
490 Emory Street, Imperial Beach, CA 91932
(619-628-2500) Map - Website

Central Elementary School (K-6)
1290 Ebony Avenue, Imperial Beach, CA 91932
(619-628-5000) Map - Website

Imperial Beach Elementary School (K-6)
650 Imperial Beach Boulevard, Imperial Beach, CA 91932
(619-628-5600) Map - Website

West View Elementary School (K-6)
525 3rd Street, Imperial Beach, CA 91932
(619-628-8900) Map - Website

Oneonta Elementary School (K-6)
1311 10th Street, Imperial Beach, CA 91932
(619-628-8600) Map - Website

Mar Vista High School (9-12)
505 Elm Avenue, Imperial Beach, CA 91932
(619-628-3074) Map - Website

Sweetwater Community Day School (Alternative Education)
505 1/2 Elm Avenue, Imperial Beach, CA 91932
(619-628-3056) Map

Imperial Beach Adult Education Center (Adult Education)
170 Palm Avenue, Imperial Beach, CA 91932
(619-628-3017) Map

Imperial Beach City Website
Imperial Beach Chamber of Commerce
Imperial Beach Demographic Profile - Fact Sheet
Imperial Beach Demographic Profile - Map

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Tijuana Estuary
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