Imperial Beach CA Visitors Guide

The ocean community of Imperial Beach is the most southern beach city in California and is situated about 14 miles south of San Diego. Those living in this city note that Imperial Beach still maintains a small beach town vibe. The City of Imperial Beach directed a community redevelopment plan to improve the business corridor along Seacoast Drive and Palm Avenue. Near future plans call for a lavish hotel and conference center to be built in this area.

Scripps Institution of Oceanography operates a weather reporting station near the center of the Imperial Beach Pier for the purpose of temperature and humidity readings, sky conditions, and wind and water data. Area residents really appreciate the Imperial Beach Farmer’s Market, a beachfront market set up at Pier Plaza. Another local’s favorite event is Imperial Beach International Film Festival also held at Pier Plaza.

Imperial Beach

Imperial Beach California has miles of un-crowded beaches awaiting your beach blanket and umbrella.  Many people are unaware of its existence it is located just south of the more well-know coastal community of Coronado Island at the southern end of a several miles-long sand bar that separates the two towns.  The community corners the southwest of the United States with the Mexican state of Baja California.  Other boundaries include the backwaters of San Diego Bay, the National Estuarine Research Reserve and State Park, the Tijuana River and the Interstate 5 freeway. Imperial Beach offers the beach lover and waterside sports enthusiast all the typical sun-in-the-sun activities including swimming, surfing, boogie boarding, biking, surf fishing, a fishing pier, charter boats and more.  A great family event for over 27 years is the U.S. Open Sandcastle Competition.  In 2007 over 400,000 people enjoyed its beach contests that offered over $22,000 in prizes to the winners.

Imperial Beach began in the 1880s with its first sub-divisions being promoted by the developers as a summer retreat for people from the inland California Imperial Valley located to the east.  Over the century that followed, the residential community vied with the military for land with the US Calvary, Army Air Corps, and Navy all having a presence at one time or another doing everything from mounted horse and saber drills to practice aircraft carrier landings.  At one time Imperial Beach (IB) was known as the “Helicopter Capitol of the World.”  Today the US Government Job Corps agency operates a regional training center on the decommissioned Ream Field.

The community of over 26,000 (per year 2,000 census) has its share of beachfront condos and residential neighborhoods with more in the planning.  The newer housing is expected to be of higher density and multi-storied as available land is becoming scarce.  Despite the foregoing, residential properties are among the most affordable of all of California’s beach communities being preferred by working-class, Latinos (40% of the population) and military residents due to its proximity to San Diego’s shipyards, military facilities, and the international border. Imperial Beach (IB) is well located to all major area attractions including Coronado Island with its famous Victorian Hotel del Coronado, golf course, Downtown San Diego, the Gaslamp Quarter entertainment district, Balboa Park, San Diego Zoo, regional Shopping, and discount merchandise Outlet Malls.

Nearby are the San Diego communities of Chula Vista and National City. Mexico’s northwesternmost town Tijuana with a population of 1.5 million, is just minutes away across the international border.  There one can enjoy a taste of Latin America with its hundreds of tourist-oriented shops, nightclubs, restaurants, sports betting racetrack, Jai alai games, and bullfights.   Hundreds of Maquiladoras (industrial plants) are found in Tijuana with many of the management executives commuting daily from Imperial Beach or other nearby San Diego communities on the I-5 Freeway.

Homes for Sale in Imperial Beach, CA

Home seekers will have some of the most interesting real estate choices in the South Bay. Beach condos, houses with no stairs and even unique vintage listings are present in Imperial Beach at various price levels. Silver Strand Beach Garden district features wonderful waterfront properties with ocean views. Sail at sunset from Imperial Beach and enjoy the Mediterranean weather along with incomparable ocean scenery.

Imperial Beach Market Facts