Imperial Beach's Late-Fall Calendar Lives at the Estuary

How many public events does the City of Imperial Beach's parks and recreation calendar list for December 2026? One. The Small Town Holiday / Tree Lighting runs Saturday, Dec. 5, from 3 to 6 p.m. at Pier Plaza, 910 Seacoast Drive.

At the south end of town, the Tijuana Estuary Visitor Center on Caspian Way keeps a much busier schedule. It runs a free bird walk every Saturday morning, a children's program every Saturday at 11 a.m., and adds nature walks, a journaling club and a book club on a fixed rotation. Between Thanksgiving week and early December, most of what's on Imperial Beach's public calendar takes place at the estuary. The pier end gets a weekly market on Fridays and one big Saturday in December, and on that Saturday both ends of town have something going on.

Every Saturday on Caspian Way

The Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve Visitor Center sits at 301 Caspian Way. It's open Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and closed Sunday through Tuesday. The trails stay open every day from dawn to dusk. Saturday is when most programs happen, and the reserve's public programs page lists them as a standing schedule, not one-off events.

Here's the November rotation on the reserve's calendar:

On the bird walk, participants look for some of the 370 bird species that live in the reserve or stop there on their yearly migration. The calendar suggests bringing binoculars if you have them. Junior Rangers earn pins, certificates and patches as they move through the program. Docent Ron leads the first-Saturday nature walk, which focuses on the estuary's native plants.

The book club shows the city working at the estuary too. The City of Imperial Beach and the Imperial Beach Library run it together, every book on the list can be checked out from the library, and coffee and snacks are provided. The Nature Book Club page on the city's site has the monthly reading list.

For readers seeing this on Thursday, Nov. 19, two Saturdays come next. On Nov. 21 there's the 9:30 a.m. bird walk, Junior Rangers at 11, and the second fall session of the Nature Journaling Club from 3 to 4:30 p.m. The calendar describes it as an afternoon session for golden-hour light. On Nov. 28, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, the bird walk is followed by the Nature Book Club at 10 a.m. and Junior Rangers at 11.

The Wednesday Before Thanksgiving

The one program this month that isn't on the weekly rotation depends on the tide. On Wednesday, Nov. 25, from 9 to 11 a.m., California State Parks and the San Diego Natural History Museum lead a King Tide Hike from the Visitor Center. A King Tide is one of the highest tides of the year, and the reserve is expecting a high tide of about 7 feet.

The route connects the estuary with the beach side of town. The walk heads from the Visitor Center to near the south end of Seacoast Drive and back, about 2 miles round trip on flat paths. Participants take part in the California King Tides Project, which collects photos of the shoreline at King Tide levels to build a record of changes to the coast and estuaries. The hike also covers how the reserve's long-term monitoring research adds data for tracking trends in a changing climate.

A few logistics:

• The hike is geared to ages 12 and up, with adult supervision.
• RSVP is required through the form linked on the reserve's calendar.
• Comfortable walking shoes are recommended, and the trails may be muddy.

On Thanksgiving Day, the Visitor Center is closed. The trails stay open during daylight hours, so a holiday-morning walk at the estuary is still possible. The building also closes on Christmas and New Year's Day.

The Pier End Keeps a Friday Schedule

At the pier end, the regular fixture is a Friday market. The Imperial Beach Certified Farmers Market sets up at Pier Plaza, 10 Evergreen Ave. From November through March it runs from 2 to 6 p.m., an hour shorter than the 2 to 7 p.m. schedule it keeps April through October. The San Diego Tourism Authority's farmers market listing notes that days and times can change. The remaining Fridays before the tree lighting are Nov. 20, Nov. 27 and Dec. 4.

The other pier-end news this season is a business story. The Imperial Beach Eagle & Times reported in September that four businesses planned to open together under one roof by late November, in the former Seaside Candy space. Owner Angel Frank Krusic ran Seaside Candy for 15 years before closing it about two years ago. Bonehead Burger moved into the space after the candy shop closed. Bonehead lists its Imperial Beach location at 150 Palm Avenue.

The plan, as the Eagle & Times described it, puts four operators in one location:

• Seaside Ice Cream Parlor and Sweets, Frank Krusic's new version of her shop, with old-fashioned ice cream, handmade fudge, homemade candied nuts and chocolate-dipped frozen bananas.
• Bonehead Eatery, adding salads and sandwiches to its burgers.
• Lillylu Flowers, with owner Anylu Bailey returning to the space she occupied before.
• Jax Bakers & Coffee, a coffee shop from owner Oscar Faraias.

The remodel also adds a backyard where children can play and parents can relax. In the same Eagle & Times story, Frank Krusic described what she's looking forward to:

"I cannot wait to welcome back our long-time customers, meet new families and friends, and once again see children walking out the door smiling with ice cream in their hands."

She calls the project a homecoming, not a reopening.

Dec. 5 Brings Both Ends of Town Together

The tree lighting falls on the first Saturday of December. The reserve's standing schedule puts its first-Saturday programs on that day too. The Port of San Diego's listing for the Small Town Holiday & Tree Lighting promises photos with Santa, holiday crafts, air jumps and holiday lights, from 3 to 6 p.m. The city has its own event page for updates.

If the reserve's regular programs run that day, a full Saturday across town looks like this:

1. 9:30 a.m. Bird walk from the Visitor Center at 301 Caspian Way, along the McCoy Trail. Free, no reservation.
2. 11 a.m. The first-Saturday nature walk with Docent Ron, or Junior Rangers for ages 7 to 12. Both start at the Visitor Center.
3. Midday The Visitor Center is open until 5 p.m. on Saturdays, and the trails stay open until dusk.
4. 3 to 6 p.m. Santa photos, crafts, air jumps and the tree lighting at Pier Plaza, 910 Seacoast Drive.

The estuary calendar is the place to check for any December changes to the morning programs. For the afternoon, the city's event page will have updates.

Planning around the King Tide Hike, the Friday market or the Dec. 5 tree lighting? At Kappel Realty Group, we follow Imperial Beach's calendar the same way we follow its market, and we're glad to talk through either. Schedule a Free Market Consultation.