Putting down roots Community efforts help seed growth of Coronado Cays natural park

By MARTINA SCHIMITSCHEK

At first glance, Grand Caribe Shoreline Park in the Coronado Cays is much like other local open spaces with a grassy area, a piece of public art and nice views. But wander the pathway past the lawn and the park becomes a sensory experience among a native landscape.

Springtime blooms of bush sunflower, Cleveland sage and California buckwheat paint the landscape in yellow, purple and delicate shades of pink, while the air is filled with the fragrance of sage and laurel as well as sounds of birds chirping and trilling.

“It smells great. It’s peaceful. You get to see from Tijuana to downtown (San Diego) and you get to see the birds,” said Mary Berube, who was instrumental in reviving the park in 2016.

The 3.7-acre park on a spit of land, overseen by the Port of San Diego, contains hundreds of native plant — thanks to grassroots volunteer efforts to create a small, healthy ecosystem where birds, plants, pollinators and small animals thrive.

“The park is important because of where it is in San Diego Bay. The coastal sage habitat is important for migratory birds,” Berube said.

San Diego County has more varieties of birds than any other county in the U.S., according to the San Diego Audubon Society. The area is part of the Pacific Flyway, a major North American migration route for birds, especially waterfowl.

“They hang out on the shore and in shrubs. They use places like Grand Caribe for a couple of months while here,” said Andrew Meyer, director of conservation at the San Diego Audubon Society.

Berube said she has seen red tail hawks and falcons in the mornings. The raptors feed off the thriving rabbit population. Herons, osprey and egrets find plentiful food in the protected water just offshore, which is part of the San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge, and hummingbirds feed off nectar-producing flowers.

Berube, who lives in the Cays, visits the park daily to walk her dog. She was part of a small group who started the restoration project after organizing the park’s 20th anniversary celebration in 2016.

That event created awareness and sparked community interest to make the park the oasis it is today.

The park opened July 5, 1996, and was a joint project of the Port of San Diego and the Silver Strand Beautification Committee. Originally envisioned as a natural area, it included some native wildflowers as well as other indigenous plants that still survive such as the lemonade berry bush.

At that time, the bronze sculpture “Sheltering Wings” by Christopher Slatoff, was unveiled. It is still the centerpiece of the grassy area.

By the 20th anniversary of the park, most of the vegetation had died, said Berube, who has a degree in geology and a lifelong interest in the outdoors. She started replanting Grand Caribe with a $500 grant from the California Native Plant Society in 2016.

The nonprofit organization also helped select the plants, which include beach evening primrose, Coastal sagebrush, coyote brush and the San Diego sunflower. Over the next couple of years, other organizations came in to continue the plantings

Over the years, planting parties at Grand Caribe Shoreline Park have added hundreds of native varieties. The park opened in 1996 and by its 20th anniversary, most of the original plantings including a Girl Scout troop from Otay Mesa and employees of Cummins, a diesel sales and service company in El Cajon, as part of a service project.

In 2019, the San Diego Audubon Society got involved, adding to the plant list. During the past four years, the Audubon Society has planted hundreds of native varieties, with grants from the Port of San Diego and the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service to encourage birds to stop at the park, Meyer said.

“Biodiversity helps weather changes. If one plant goes down, the goal is to have five or six others to provide whatever the food chain needs,” Berube said. That’s why she’s working to eradicate the invasive crown daisy, which dies off after three months leaving black stocks that do not provide food or shelter to the park’s inhabitants and prevent other plants from growing. She would also like to replace the grass with native plantings.

Grand Caribe Isle, which is also home to the Coronado Cays Yacht Club, was created in 1968 with fill from dredging the channels for the Cays. Over the years, the park has lost about 30 feet on its southern end to erosion, caused by a variety of factors including overuse and storm surge, Berube said.

“The shoreline is eroding, and I won’t say gradually,” she said. Plants and a bench on the east side of the park have tumbled down to the beach.

“The shoreline needs protection,” said Meyer, who would like to see underwater habitat protection put in place to slow down the water and minimize wave action.

The Audubon Society has done much of its recent plantings on the west side of the park, next to Port-owned open space, which is a large swale. By reconfiguring that area, the park’s neighboring land to the west could become a tidal wetland habitat, Meyer said.

Stewards of Grand Caribe park were also envisioning expanding the park across the island's entire eastern shore all the way to the yacht club. But those plans might be thwarted by a proposed project to build 41 RV-style vacation rental units and a restaurant on the adjacent 7.3-acre site to the north, which currently houses a boatyard.

Port of San Diego commissioners voted in February to advance the project by Arizona-based developer Keith Mishkin, which needs an environmental analysis before final approval. The Port’s updated master plan calls for the land to be open recreational use.

The park is popular with anglers, paddleboarders, walkers and photographers, especially in the summer months.

“It’s beautiful. You see a lot of birds using it now,” Meyer said. “Part of what we do is to connect the community to a space. Lots of people find value at the park. It’s a great community asset for anyone who wants coastal access The park has a lot of folks who love it deeply.” ■