Un Mar de Colores · Coronado, CA
Bilingual instruction in English and Spanish — 14% households in Coronado fully included.
Un Mar de Colores's Cultural Arts & Storytelling workshops center Indigenous, Latino, and Chicano voices of the California coast — and Coronado youth are welcome in every cohort. Quarterly workshops run throughout San Diego County in partnership with Coronado Public Library and Coronado Unified School District, with summer artist residencies open to Coronado students via referral from Coronado Unified School District. All supplies, instruction, and exhibition opportunities are provided at no cost.
Quarterly workshops + summer artist residencies · Completely free
Coronado Central Beach's wide, flat sandbar and year-round lifeguard coverage make it a welcoming teaching location for our South Bay cohorts. We partner with Coronado Unified for middle school recruitment and with the Silver Strand State Beach for overflow locations. The proximity to North Island Naval Air Station also means we serve military-family youth through our Ocean Stewards program.
Visual arts supplies provided every workshop — paint, canvas, mural materials — no hidden supply lists for Coronado working families.
Chicano and Latino surf culture history modules teach Coronado youth about longboard traditions, barrio surf scenes, and coastal narratives excluded from Coronado Unified School District textbooks.
Coronado's relationship to the Pacific is complicated by history and economics. Our curriculum weaves Kumeyaay coastal stewardship, environmental justice, and culturally grounded instruction into every session — not as an add-on, but as the foundation.
Serving Coronado means meeting families where they are: San Diego schools, community centers, and partner orgs that already hold trust. We don't wait for families to find the beach — we bring youth to the water.
Our primary Coronado and South Bay teaching location. Wide flat sandbar, gentle reform.
Coronado Central is consistently ranked among America's best beaches for family swimming and beginner surfing, with exceptionally clean sand that glitters from the high mica content.
In partnership with Coronado Unified School District and local community organizations, we recruit youth from 1+ Title I schools.
Cultural Arts & Storytelling at Un Mar de Colores is where the surf, the coast, and community narrative meet. Quarterly workshops and summer artist residencies bring together youth, professional artists, and Kumeyaay elders to create work that reflects the living cultural traditions of the California coast. Programs center Indigenous, Latino, and Chicano voices historically marginalized in coastal culture, and every workshop ends with a public exhibition, publication, or film screening that returns the art to the community that made it.
Un Mar de Colores is recognized by partners including the San Diego Foundation, Surfrider San Diego, WILDCOAST, and school districts across San Diego — not a pop-up program, a sustained movement.
“"He used to approach new activities with extreme anxiety — to the point where sometimes we couldn't even get out of the car. Now he goes much deeper into the water."”
Coastal storytelling and oral tradition, Kumeyaay history and living culture, Latino and Chicano surf culture history, visual arts (painting, mural, photography), poetry and spoken word, and film and documentary-making. Coronado cohorts rotate through forms across quarterly workshops.
Un Mar de Colores Cultural Arts centers Indigenous, Latino, and Chicano voices of the California coast through quarterly workshops and summer artist residencies. Coronado participants create visual art, poetry, film, and oral tradition work with Kumeyaay elders and professional BIPOC guest artists — all free with supplies included.
Yes — every workshop cycle aims toward public exhibition, publication, or film screening. Un Mar partners with local galleries and museums to return Coronado youth art to the community — not sell it to tourists.
Yes. All Un Mar de Colores programs in Coronado are 100% free — including 3/2mm wetsuits, soft-top surfboards, transportation from partner schools like Coronado Middle School, and certified bilingual instruction. Funding comes from the San Diego Foundation, community grants, and individual donors. No Coronado family has ever paid for our programming.
Primary water sessions run at Coronado Central Beach. Classroom components happen at Coronado Public Library and other partner sites. All water activities happen within lifeguard-flag zones.
We serve youth ages All ages. In Coronado specifically, our recruitment runs through Coronado Unified School District — with priority enrollment for students from Coronado Middle School. Cohorts are age-appropriate (One Ocean for 6–12, Ocean Stewards for 13–17).
No. We begin every cohort with ocean-safety fundamentals in chest-deep whitewater at Coronado Central Beach, supervised by instructors certified by the San Diego Fire-Rescue Lifeguard Division. Water comfort is built progressively. In Coronado, we also run pre-cohort pool-familiarization sessions at local community pools for students who request extra comfort-building.
Yes. All Un Mar de Colores programs are bilingual — and in Coronado, where 14% of households are Spanish-speaking, we intentionally pair at least one bilingual coach to every session. Cultural programming is delivered in both languages, and parent communications are always sent in Spanish and English.
Three ways: (1) everything is free, while most Coronado surf programs charge $50–$150 per lesson; (2) we are BIPOC-led and our coaches reflect the 32%-BIPOC Coronado community we serve; (3) our curriculum includes environmental justice, Kumeyaay coastal history, and cultural arts — not just surf skills. We exist because the ocean should belong to everyone in Coronado, not just those who can afford access.
Visit our sign-up page or contact us directly. Priority enrollment goes to students of Coronado Middle School and referrals from Coronado Public Library and Coronado Unified School District. Summer cohorts fill 3–4 weeks before start, so early contact is recommended.
Parents in Coronado: bilingual staff, certified lifeguard-trained coaches, and zero cost. Sign up now.
All Un Mar de Colores programs are free for Coronado youth. Reach out to enroll, volunteer, or support the movement.
Un Mar de Colores is a BIPOC-led 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Oceanside, California. We provide free surf, ocean, and environmental programming for youth across San Diego and Tijuana — bridging cultures, coasts, and communities since 2018.
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