With Hispanic Heritage Month beginning, it’s an opportunity to visit the Living Coast Discovery Center for their bilingual programming offered the first weekend of every month.
The center began offering bilingual programming in 2023 to allow individuals to explore the surrounding areas in the language most comfortable to them.
The Living Coast Discovery Center is a nonprofit zoo and aquarium in Chula Vista that offers guided nature walks, workshops and animal presentations.
On the first weekend of every month, guests can experience bilingual educational programming, included with admission, consisting of live presentations of sea turtles, sharks, rays and eagles, a guided and interactive Sweetwater Safari Walk through the San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge and workshops on composting.
The program began with Living Coast community programs manager, Cynthia Licona.
Spanish is Licona’s first language and she was the only instructor who has spoken Spanish at Living Coast since she began work there 13 years ago. She saw the demand for a bilingual program, especially in the South Bay, and formed a team, she said.
“We hope to create more accessibility into nature by having people who speak other languages around to answer questions or show cool things that we have in our backyard,” Licona said.
Local residents also can participate in a series of free bilingual hikes in and around the South Bay as part of Living Coast’s Trail to Bay challenge, joining educators to learn about the environment and how to identify wildlife and native plants.
You must attend three hikes and one clean-up event to complete the challenge. If completed, you can get a family four-pack of admission passes, of $80 value, and a sustainability hiking pack.
Living Coast is open Wednesday-Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
