The capital of the State of Baja California has so much to offer locals and strangers, a city bordering the United States with a warmth that makes it a place to visit. This is Mexicali.
This is our TOP 15 of the best things to do in the city whose name is the combination of Mexico and California.
Top 15 things to do in Mexicali:
1. Tour the Sol del Niño Museum
The number 1 place on our list for being a very fun place for children and adults.
The Mueso del Sol del Niño is an interactive center for science, art, technology and the environment, where learning mathematics, chemistry, physics and nature is something pleasant.
The museum was inaugurated in 1998. It is divided into 9 spaces:
1. Construction Zone: children's interaction with construction materials.
2. Guiñol Theater: puppets oriented towards human values and preservation of the environment.
3. Window to Art: interaction with colors, shapes and figures.
4. Discover your World: sensory activities for psychomotor development.
5. Extreme Zone: to experience free fall safely.
6. Children's Zone: creation of works of art by children.
7. Bubbles: creation of giant bubbles.
8. Energy and Environment: teachings on recycling, reuse and saving.
9. IMAX and Digital Dome: 3D projections.
The museum also has 6 exhibition halls of Magic Science, Sustainable House and Augmented Reality.
Address: Comandante Alfonso Esquer S / N, Centro, Mexicali, Baja California.
Learn more here.
2. Visit the State Center for the Arts
The State Center for the Arts was created in 2005 for the massification of different artistic manifestations such as dance, theater, short film cinema, literature and plastic arts.
In its exhibition and conference rooms, classrooms and workshops, academic activities are developed to disseminate artistic creation among the Mexican public and visitors.
Most of their events are free. Attendees are only asked to invite their friends and acquaintances.
The State Center for the Arts also interacts with public and private institutions responsible for developing and promoting art.
Address: Calzada de los Presidentes S / N, New River Zone, Mexicali, Baja California.
Learn more here.
Also read our guide on the 15 best hot springs in Mexico
3. Visit the Alternative Energies Theme Park
The familiar places in Mexicali have in their Alternative Energies Theme Park, one of the greatest educational exponents dedicated to alternative sources of energy, which favor the reduction of pollution on the planet.
The park shows the public some economical and profitable energy options, useful to reduce the causes of global warming and the deterioration of nature.
The main alternate sources of energy are those provided by the sun, winds, waterfalls, waves, and warm groundwater.
In the park you will see a solar oven for cooking, a solar heater that provides hot water at 85 ° C and a solar house with an interior garden built with bioclimatic techniques.
Address: Mexicali-Tijuana highway, km 4.7, Zaragoza, Mexicali, Baja California.
4. Enjoy a day of shopping at the Plaza La Cachanilla shopping center
The best shopping center in Mexicali. It has clothing, shoe and leather stores, to buy cosmetics, accessories, jewelry, household items, gifts and pets. Also commercial premises for telephone services, health, pharmacy and food fair.
The Plaza La Cachanilla shopping center is an oasis in the warm Baja California desert, with a program of events throughout the year, among which are:
1. Awareness of cancer conditions on World Day to Fight Breast Cancer (October 19).
2. Workshops on safety, personal protection and fire prevention, aimed at children.
3.Halloween celebration every October 31 with costume contests and candy gifts.
4. Celebration of the Day of the Dead with traditional events, sweets and foods that characterize this tradition in Mexico.
Address: Bulevar Adolfo López Mateos S / N, Centro, Mexicali, Baja California.
5. Take your kids to Flyers Jum & Fun
The largest amusement park in the country with facilities and entertaining activities such as open jumps, air beds, basketball, dodgeball (catching and throwing plastic balls trying to hit the opponent) and flyerobics (aerobics to burn fat).
Flyers Jum & Fun aims to be more than just a fun center by developing an innovative project in which the family, in addition to being entertained, also exercises dynamically.
The park has special facilities for birthdays and other celebrations.
Address: Boulevard Lázaro Cárdenas 2501, Fraccionamiento Hacienda Bilbao, Mexicali, Baja California.
6. Tour the Valley of the Giants
The main attraction of the Valley of the Giants are its large cacti that reach 12 meters in height, some exceed 23 meters, which characterize its desert vegetation nestled 220 km south of Mexicali.
It is an interesting walk and one of the most environmentalists to do in the city.
The closest town to the Valley of the Giants is San Felipe, a county seat with a coastline on the Sea of Cortez.
Address: between the Sierra de San Pedro Mártir and the Sea of Cortez, 25 km from the town of San Felipe, Baja California.
7. Visit the Cerro Prieto Geothermal
The Cerro Prieto geothermal plant is a plant frequented by students and young people interested in learning about its energy generation process. It is another educational source for the children of Mexicali.
It is one of the largest plants on the planet in installed capacity. It is based on geothermal energy produced by the underground activity of the Cerro Prieto volcano, a natural structure with a cone and 3 volcanic domes with a maximum height of 220 meters above sea level, 30 km from Mexicali.
The volcanic system formed during the Pleistocene 80,000 years ago as a bypass of the San Andrés fault.
Address: Valle de Mexicali, Mexicali, Baja California.
8. Get to know the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe
The iconic virgin of the Mexicans has a temple in Mexicali consecrated in 1918 and elevated to the dignity of a cathedral in 1966.
It is a beautiful, colorful, simple and well-lit church, with a sober portico, a two-section bell tower and a large-format rose window clock. It has a main central nave and two lateral ones of less width.
The cathedral is the ideal place for prayer and reflection, with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe and a crucified Christ inside.
The day of the Virgin of Guadalupe (December 12) is celebrated with great joy in Mexicali. The celebration begins with a song of mañanitas shortly before midnight on the 11th and continues on the 12th with mariachi music, dances and other cultural and festive manifestations.
Address: Calle Morelos 192, Mexicali, Baja California.
Learn more about the cathedral here.
9. Try your luck at Casino Arenia
Bet to win at Casino Arenia or attend their sporting events. Pay and collect with bets on world football, American football, baseball, hockey and professional and college basketball.
The casino hosts events throughout the week and Seven, its distinguished restaurant, serves juicy cuts of meat, salads, soups, fish and seafood, as well as a buffet for breakfast and lunch.
Address: Justo Sierra y Panamá, Cuauhtémoc Sur 21200, Mexicali, Baja California.
Learn more here.
Also read our guide on the 15 best places to practice rappelling in Mexico
10. Tour the UABC Museum and Cultural Research Institute
This institution attached to the Autonomous University of Baja California has a museum with several rooms, some with permanent exhibits and others temporary. These are:
1. Desert, Migration and Borders: promotes knowledge of the natural and cultural history of the State of Baja California, with technological resources applied to museography.
2. Paleontology: offers an interpretive tour of Baja California's remote past through fossils. It shows geological changes and in the development of life with an emphasis on regional species.
3. Prehistory and Archeology: illustrates the prehistoric phase of the Baja California peninsula after the last ice age 10,000 years ago, until the culture of the Yumans, a common ethnic trunk of the 5 indigenous peoples of the peninsula, was formed.
4. History and Anthropology: covers the socio-cultural development of Baja California from the emergence of the Cucapá, Kiliwa, Kumiai, Cochimí and Pai-pai peoples, to the contemporary period including the viceregal period and subsequent immigration.
Address: L and Reforma streets, Colonia Nueva, Mexicali, Baja California.
11. Take a walk around Vicente Guerrero Park
One of the oldest and largest public spaces in the city and among the parks in Mexicali, the most appropriate place for an outdoor barbecue.
Vicente Guerrero Park has extensive green areas, children's play areas and benches, ideal for reading or surfing the Internet. Its spaces are also used for jogging and occasionally for holding musical events and children's workshops.
Address: Adolfo López Mateos and Comandante Alfonso Esquer boulevard, Mexicali, Baja California.
12. Get to know the Guadalupe Canyon
Magnificent natural space 92 km southwest of Mexicali and 50 km from the international border with California, USA, with hot springs in charming rustic pools.
Its warm waters are rich in sulfides suitable for treating skin conditions such as psoriasis and dermatitis.
This desert paradise offers beautiful sunrises and spectacular sunsets with starry nights.
Lovers of nature observation will be able to enjoy photographic safaris, while admiring the most representative species of wild fauna and flora.
Address: km 28 Federal Highway N ° 2 Mexicali - Tijuana, Baja California.
Read our guide on the Top 15 things to do and see in the Valle de Guadalupe
13. Enjoy the excellent beaches of Baja California
One of the best beach centers near Mexicali is Rosarito, on the Pacific coast 190 km west of the city, a journey that you can do in less than 3 hours.
On this beach you can surf and practice other sea sports. At night, the clubs and bars near the sand are centers of entertainment.
Near Rosarito is Puerto Nuevo, a fishing community where the most famous recipe in Mexico based on crustaceans originated: the Puerto Nuevo style lobster. Each year they serve more than 100,000 and eating this dish is a kind of obligatory culinary ritual in the town.
Address: Playas de Rosarito municipality, Baja California.
14. Try to leave Escape Room Mexicali
One of the funniest entertainment in Mexicali. You will have to leave a room in less than 60 minutes following clues, solving puzzles and being very smart. The best times receive awards and courtesies.
The place is designed for teams of between 2 and 8 people from 12 years old. The youngest can also participate with the help of their representatives.
Among the recreated sets are:
1. An invasion of aliens that wants to conquer or destroy the planet.
2. A zombie apocalypse in which you will have to escape from them.
3. The escape of a predatory humanoid known as, Demogorgon, and famous horror movie characters such as Chucky, Annabelle, Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers and Pennywise.
Address: 301 Río Presidio street, corner with Lázaro Cárdenas Boulevard, Mexicali, Baja California.
15. Get to know Chinese culture at La Chinesca
La Chinesca is the Chinatown of Mexicali that is home to about 5,000 Chinese. This community was established when hundreds of immigrants arrived to work in the irrigation projects of the Mexican valley and in the cotton plantations. At that time there were more Chinese than Mexicans in the valley.
Address: downtown Mexicali, Baja California.
You are invited to take your family to Mexicali, a city to enjoy its natural beauties, ecological parks, shopping centers, entertainment venues, scientific centers, music institutions and more attractions.
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