About Marine Safety

Responsibilities

The City of Imperial Beach Marine Safety Department provides lifeguard services through a variety of functions and responsibilities. Our ocean lifeguards perform a vital role in providing frontline protection of life and property at Imperial Beach. Our service patrols and responds to ocean rescues, major medical and law enforcement incidents from our beach towers, and emergency vehicles and watercraft.

Lifeguards patrol the shoreline from 7 am to dusk, 365 days a year. Daily staffing levels vary from four lifeguards in the winter months to as many as twenty lifeguards during the spring and summer months. The Marine Safety Department is located at the Dempsey Holder Safety Center, located at:
950 Ocean Lane
Imperial Beach, CA 91932

During the summer months, eight lifeguard beach towers, two emergency vehicles, and our pier observation tower are staffed as needed to provide our 2.5 million annual visitors with maximum beach and ocean safety.

Jurisdiction

Imperial Beach lifeguards respond to beach and aquatic emergencies on a four-mile stretch of coast, from the south end of Silver Strand State Beach to the U.S.-Mexico border. However, our primary jurisdiction area is from Carnation Avenue to the south end of Seacoast Drive. This 1.5-mile shoreline is broken up by two rock jetties and the Imperial Beach municipal pier. The southern rock jetty is located off of Palm Avenue, with the other jetty a quarter-mile to its north. The pier is located off of Evergreen Avenue and is available for public walking and fishing. The Tin Fish, a dining restaurant located at the end of the pier, sells bait and tackle. Fishing from the pier does not require a license, but catch regulations are enforced.