Tijuana’s municipal government is hiring 150 temporary workers to staff the city’s beaches during the peak summer tourism season, with positions paying between 8,000 and 12,000 pesos per month (roughly $450 to $675 USD). The jobs span lifeguarding, beach cleaning, administrative support, and public safety roles across Tijuana’s coastal strip, and applications opened this week through the city’s official jobs portal.
Tijuana Has Struggled With Beach Safety and Cleanliness for Years
The summer hiring push comes as Tijuana tries to professionalize its seasonal beach operations along a coastline that stretches from the border fence at Playas de Tijuana south toward Rosarito. The city’s beaches draw tens of thousands of visitors on peak weekends, a mix of local families, day-tripping San Diegans, and longer-stay tourists renting along the Playas corridor.
Yet the infrastructure to manage those crowds has historically been thin. Lifeguard coverage has been inconsistent, with past summers seeing stretches of popular beach left unmonitored on busy days. Beach trash, especially after holiday weekends like Semana Santa, has been a recurring complaint from residents and visitors. And coastal access points in colonias like Playas de Tijuana and San Antonio del Mar have sometimes lacked basic services like functioning restrooms or first aid stations.
The 150 positions this year include 30 lifeguards, according to the municipal posting. Lifeguard candidates must hold current certifications in aquatic rescue and first aid. The remaining 120 positions cover beach maintenance crews, administrative coordinators, and public safety auxiliaries who will work alongside municipal police during high-traffic weekends.
Tijuana’s coastal zone also faces environmental pressures that make staffing more urgent. Sewage spills from the cross-border Tijuana River watershed have repeatedly closed beaches on both sides of the border. In 2024, contaminated water advisories forced closures at Playas de Tijuana multiple times between June and September. Workers assigned to water quality monitoring and public notification will be part of this summer’s team, the city said.
Pay Ranges From 8,000 to 12,000 Pesos Per Month
The compensation structure reflects Tijuana’s tiered approach to seasonal staffing. Entry-level maintenance and cleaning positions start at 8,000 pesos monthly (about $450 USD). Lifeguards and specialized safety personnel can earn up to 12,000 pesos (about $675 USD). Contracts run from mid-June through mid-September, covering the 13-week core summer period when beach attendance peaks.
By comparison, Tijuana’s minimum wage sits at approximately 374 pesos per day in 2025, or about 7,480 pesos for a 20-day work month. So the beach positions pay slightly above minimum wage at the low end and roughly 60% above it at the top.
Applications require a valid government-issued ID, proof of residence, and a CURP (Mexico’s unique population registry code). Lifeguard applicants need to present certification from a recognized aquatic safety program. The city is accepting applications through its online employment portal and at the Dirección de Servicios Públicos offices on Boulevard Lázaro Cárdenas.
The positions are formal temporary contracts, meaning workers will receive IMSS (Mexico’s social security health system) enrollment for the duration of their employment. That is a notable detail: many seasonal beach workers in Mexican coastal cities operate informally without health coverage or labor protections.
What Summer Staffing Means Along the Playas Corridor
If you live or vacation along Tijuana’s coast, the practical effect of this hiring should be visible by late June. More lifeguard chairs staffed on weekends. Faster trash pickup after holiday surges. A larger presence of uniformed beach personnel who can direct visitors to safe swimming areas and away from contaminated zones.
The Playas de Tijuana boardwalk, which underwent partial renovation work in 2023 and 2024, remains the most heavily visited stretch. San Antonio del Mar, further south, has grown as a residential area popular with both Mexican families and some foreign buyers, but it has historically received less municipal beach service than Playas proper.
The city has not yet announced whether the 150-position count represents an increase over last summer’s staffing levels or a continuation of the same headcount. Tijuana’s municipal budget for 2025, approved in December 2024, included a modest increase in public services spending, but the city has not broken out beach-specific allocations publicly.
The application deadline has not been formally published, though the city indicated that hiring decisions will be finalized by the first week of June to allow training before the season opens. Candidates can check the municipal jobs portal at empleo.tijuana.gob.mx for updates, as first reported by El Imparcial.