From waterpark to winter wonderland: The seasonal rebirth of Tijuana’s El Vergel

In the tallness of July, the aerial astatine El Vergel is heavy with the scent of chlorine, sunscreen, and the sounds of thousands of families splashing successful the pools to flight the Baja California heat. But arsenic December settles implicit the region, the scenery undergoes a radical, originative transformation. In a superb seasonal shift, the park’s celebrated lazy stream — usually a slow-moving watercourse of interior tubes — has been drained and reimagined arsenic a winding roller-skating tunnel. Nearby, the towering h2o slides that erstwhile pumped thousands of gallons of h2o per infinitesimal person recovered a 2nd beingness arsenic “sack slides,” wherever visitors commercialized their swimsuits for burlap bags to alert down the adust fiberglass chutes.

This is the magic of Villa Navideña, a wintertime festival that has allowed El Vergel, a staple of Tijuana’s East broadside since 1964, to defy the accepted limitations of a seasonal business.

Too acold to swim? No problem! (Giovanni Muro)

For implicit six decades, El Vergel has been much than conscionable a premier destination for the full binational region. Historically, the parkland has served arsenic a sanctuary for residents of Baja California, drafting monolithic crowds from Ensenada, Mexicali, and Tecate portion besides attracting a important fig of visitors from Southern California.

However, h2o parks are notoriously susceptible to the calendar. When the somesthesia drops, gross usually dries up. For the past 3 years, the park’s absorption has challenged this world by extending its scope into the wintertime months. By pivoting from a water-centric exemplary to a holiday-themed experience, El Vergel has ensured that its gates enactment unfastened and its unit remains employed year-round.

This year’s variation of Villa Navideña is the astir ambitious yet. Beyond the novelty of dry-sliding down “La Medusa” (the Jellyfish), the parkland has introduced a assortment of sensory experiences that thin heavy into Mexican vacation traditions. The aerial nary longer smells of chlorine; instead, it is filled with the comforting aroma of blistery cocoa and elotes (corn cups) topped with cream, cheese, and chili.

The 2025 enlargement has introduced wholly caller zones for families to explore. A recently constructed movie theatre provides a cozy abstraction for children to ticker vacation classics, portion a petting zoo offers a hands-on acquisition that contrasts beautifully with the high-adrenaline attractions of the summer.

One of the astir fashionable adaptations remains “La Medusa.” In the summer, it is an iconic, twisting h2o descent that challenges the bravest swimmers. In the winter, it becomes a elephantine helter skelter. The modulation is seamless, allowing children and adults alike to ascent the acquainted stairs to the apical and descend arsenic galore times arsenic they wish. Safety remains the superior absorption during this transition; parkland unit are stationed astatine some the acme and the basal of the thrust to coordinate the travel of “sledders” and guarantee everyone enjoys the thrill without incident.

The maturation of the lawsuit is simply a calculated strategical expansion. According to Jesus Garcia, Administrative Officer and Event Supervisor astatine El Vergel, the project’s footprint is expanding astatine a accelerated pace.

From pesebres to enactment vibes, the h2o parkland is divided into antithetic themed sections. (Giovanni Muro)

“Every year, we dedicate much of the parkland to Villa Navideña,” Garcia explained during a caller circuit of the grounds. “This twelvemonth we are utilizing astir 66 percent of the property. We person seen specified a affirmative effect from the assemblage that we are already looking ahead. By adjacent year, we expect the wintertime lawsuit to afloat instrumentality implicit the full property.”

This modulation reflects a broader inclination successful the planetary taxable parkland manufacture wherever “flex-space” is king. By utilizing existing infrastructure similar the elevation of descent towers and the pathways of the lazy river, El Vergel is maximizing its ROI portion providing unsocial worth to the radical of Tijuana.

In today’s world, a vacation lawsuit is lone arsenic palmy arsenic its beingness connected societal media, and Garcia and his squad are alert of this. While the rides and nutrient are the superior activities, the “photo ops” are arguably the park’s biggest draw.

The parkland has been meticulously decorated with divers backdrops designed to cater to each aesthetic. On 1 broadside of the park, visitors tin find classic, reverent Nativity scenes that grant the accepted roots of the holiday. A fewer steps away, towering Christmas trees and brightly colored LEDs and neon sculptures supply a contemporary, high-energy vibe cleanable for Instagram and TikTok.

“On this 3rd variation of Villa Navideña, determination are much photograph ops than ever before,” Garcia noted. He pointed retired that the extremity was to marque the parkland wholly immersive. “People tin instrumentality a large photograph successful immoderate country they take successful this park. We wanted to marque definite that nary substance wherever you are standing, you consciousness the tone of the season.”

As the prima sets implicit the East broadside of Tijuana, the lights of Villa Navideña flicker to life, reflecting disconnected the adust slides and the skating rink. What was erstwhile a summer-only flight has successfully transformed into a year-round landmark. For the families of Baja California and their neighbors to the north, El Vergel is nary longer conscionable a spot to chill disconnected — it is simply a spot to gather, to celebrate, and to make caller memories nether the wintertime stars.

Ana Gomez is an award-winning writer who has covered the Cali-Baja portion since 2010. Her enactment focuses connected immigration, culture, business, and breaking news.