The 5 Best Things to Do in Imperial Beach, Ranked

More than 370 bird species have been documented at Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge, and the Tijuana Estuary Visitor Center is where you start looking for them. The center sits on Caspian Way in Tijuana Slough and is run by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It's a free stop with trail maps, wildlife displays and refuge staff on hand during open hours, and it earns the top spot because it gives you the whole place in one visit: a quick lesson inside, then boardwalks straight out onto the marsh.

The refuge protects what's often called the largest coastal wetland in Southern California, and the birds are the headliners. Hawks turn up. So does the light-footed Ridgway's rail, an endangered marsh bird that's among the species recorded here. Binoculars help, so bring a pair if you own one. Grab the current trail map inside before heading out, and plan your walk from there.

The praise for this place is consistent and easy to understand: a visitor center that explains the refuge well, the birds, the boardwalks and trails that feel peaceful. A slow walk is the right speed, and the refuge asks visitors to keep the noise down anyway. Dogs are welcome on most trails on a leash no longer than six feet. Drones, fires and camping aren't allowed, and neither is collecting shells, plants or anything else natural.

Timing is the main thing to get right. The visitor center keeps Wednesday through Sunday hours, while the trails are open every day from sunrise to sunset, and the restrooms at the center are open daily from 9 AM to 5 PM. A weekday trail walk works, but a first visit is better on a center day, and since some visitors mention aircraft noise on weekdays, a Saturday or Sunday morning makes an easy choice. The trails are exposed to sun and heat, and mosquitoes come with the marsh, so bring water, a hat and bug spray.

Before you leave, browse the gift shop. It sells books and apparel, and the profits go to Friends of San Diego Wildlife Refuges, a nonprofit.

If the estuary is Imperial Beach's quiet side, the Imperial Beach Pier is its front porch. The pier stands on Seacoast Drive, and at its foot is Portwood Pier Plaza, the town's easy gathering spot, with arbors, picnic tables, restrooms, bike racks, fishing access, a stage for live entertainment, and shops and restaurants with outdoor seating. Dunes Park is on the same stretch of Seacoast, so the whole pier area works as one outing.

The art starts before you even step onto the pier. Surfhenge, a large public art piece, welcomes you at the pier entrance. The plaza adds a surfboard-shaped bench and illuminated artwork by Malcolm Jones and Mary Lynn Dominguez, which gives you something to look at after the sun goes down.

The walk itself is simple, and that's the appeal. Head out over the water, pass the people fishing, then turn around and take in the town from the end. What people love here is uncomplicated: sunsets, the ocean breeze, fishing and the views. Keep an eye on the water too, since visitors sometimes spot dolphins from the pier. The best plan is late afternoon: walk out, walk back, and take the sunset from the plaza.

A little planning keeps it easy. Wind is a regular part of the pier walk, so bring a layer. A splash pad is under construction at the plaza, and pier access can occasionally be interrupted, so check the Port of San Diego's current hours for the plaza before a special trip. Nice evenings draw a crowd at sunset, so come a bit early.

One more note: the pier is open on land, but the water below is inside the County's water-contact closure. Enjoy the ocean from above.

Imperial Beach wears its surf history on its sidewalks. The Imperial Beach Art Walking Tour is the Port's self-guided route through the pier district, and it turns a wander around Seacoast Drive into a tour of the town's surfing story, told through public art.

Start at Portwood Pier Plaza, where the big pieces are. Four large surfboard-shaped acrylic arches stand in the plaza, Surfhenge greets you at the pier entrance, and the illuminated works by Malcolm Jones and Mary Lynn Dominguez are in the plaza too. Then look down. Surfboard silhouettes anchored into the sidewalk between 3rd Street and Seacoast Drive trace the history of local surfboard shapers and their designs, one board at a time.

Together, the installations celebrate Imperial Beach as a surf town, honoring its board shapers and watermen, and San Diego's tourism board traces that surfing identity back to the 1930s. It's a surf-history lesson you can do in flip-flops.

If the pier is the landmark, the art walk is the backstory. They share a starting point and several pieces, so they pair naturally: do the walk first, then finish on the pier in time for sunset. The route is outdoors along sidewalks and the plaza, so plan it for daylight.

The one thing to plan around is the plaza construction. The splash pad build-out can break up the easiest line between pieces, so check the Port's current route map before you set out.

For the part of the day that moves a little faster, get on a bike. Ride the Bayshore Bikeway from Imperial Beach toward Silver Strand by joining near Palm Avenue and 13th Street in the South Bay, heading north, and turning back whenever it feels right. It makes the list because it adds motion and a change of scenery to an Imperial Beach day, and you decide how far it goes.

This stretch is one piece of a much bigger plan. SANDAG planned the full Bayshore Bikeway as a Class 1 path of roughly 24 miles (some sources say closer to 26), meant to eventually let riders circle San Diego Bay on a route separated from traffic. It starts at Broadway Pier and runs through five cities: San Diego, National City, Chula Vista, Imperial Beach and Coronado. The wider corridor wraps around the bay and the San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge, and it's pitched as a ride for a range of skill levels.

It's being built piece by piece as funding comes through. National City's segment, about 1.4 miles, was funded with $5.7 million from SANDAG and $2 million from the Port of San Diego, which gives you a sense of how much work goes into each link.

Plan it as an out-and-back. The full bikeway mixes separated path with on-street sections, and the Imperial Beach connectors run on shared streets, so ride with traffic in mind near the start. Check the current regional bike map before going beyond the Silver Strand stretch, and turn around while everyone still has energy for the return. After the estuary and the pier district, it's the pick that gets you out of the middle of town.

Dunes Park is where an Imperial Beach day slows down. It's a stretch of lawn on Seacoast Drive with the pier in view, plus picnic tables, fitness equipment, a basketball half court and restrooms. The Port of San Diego leases it from the City of Imperial Beach, and it's one of seven city-run parks in town.

When the Port announced a new playground for the park, Port Commissioner Dan Malcolm called Dunes Park "a central hub for the city and... the first stop for many Imperial Beach and San Diego Bay visitors." That playground is the big news here. Most of the original equipment came out in 2024 over safety and wear concerns, leaving a single slide, and a temporary play area has since opened. The permanent replacement is budgeted at up to $980,000, paid for through the Port's capital budget with no tax dollars, the Port says, and it's targeted for 2027 to 2028.

Everything else stays open through construction: the lawn, the picnic tables, the fitness equipment and the basketball court. The praise centers on those basics: room for kids to play, workouts, pickup basketball, picnics, a handy restroom stop and beach views.

It lands at No. 5 as the easy home base. Park on Daisy Avenue, spread out lunch on the grass, and use it as a break between the art walk and the pier. The beach views are part of the draw, and the shoreline in front of the park is inside the County's water-contact closure, so the ocean here is for looking at.