Un Mar de Colores · Ocean Beach, CA
Partnerships with local galleries and museums amplify Ocean Beach youth voices beyond the beach.
Un Mar de Colores's Cultural Arts & Storytelling workshops center Indigenous, Latino, and Chicano voices of the California coast — and Ocean Beach youth are welcome in every cohort. Quarterly workshops run throughout San Diego County in partnership with OB Town Council and San Diego River Park Foundation, with summer artist residencies open to Ocean Beach students via referral from San Diego Unified School District. All supplies, instruction, and exhibition opportunities are provided at no cost.
Quarterly workshops + summer artist residencies · Completely free
Ocean Beach's OB Pier and Dog Beach locations offer our Point Loma peninsula cohorts direct-access surf instruction. The San Diego River mouth at Dog Beach provides paddle-flat-water training, and our Ocean Beach Elementary and Dana Middle partnerships anchor our youth recruitment across the 92107 zip code — one of San Diego's most culturally diverse beach neighborhoods.
Publication opportunities — zines, anthologies, community screenings — return Ocean Beach youth art to neighborhoods that made it.
With 21% Spanish-speaking households in Ocean Beach, bilingual arts instruction and exhibition materials are standard — not English-only gallery language.
Ocean Beach's Spanish-speaking households (21%) get parent communications in both languages, every time. Coastal access fails when language is treated as an afterthought.
When we say free for Ocean Beach youth, we mean wetsuits, soft-tops, rashguards, sunscreen, transportation, and instruction — the full stack commercial programs charge $50–$150 per session for.
Primary Ocean Beach teaching location. Used for intermediate progression from Tourmaline and Mission Beach.
The Ocean Beach Pier is the longest concrete pier on the West Coast at 1,971 feet. Closed for reconstruction in 2024, with reopening projected for 2027.
Used for paddle fundamentals and flatwater training (San Diego River mouth). Not for in-water surf instruction due to no lifeguard coverage.
Dog Beach OB was California's first leash-free beach (1972). Sits at the mouth of the San Diego River — our classroom for river-to-ocean watershed lessons.
In partnership with San Diego Unified School District and local community organizations, we recruit youth from 2+ 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 a BIPOC-led 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in Oceanside, California in 2018. Our instructors are certified by the San Diego Fire-Rescue Lifeguard Division and hold CPR + First Aid credentials.
“"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."”
Immersive multi-day residencies with professional BIPOC guest artists — deeper creation than single quarterly workshops. Free for Ocean Beach youth including supplies, mentorship, and exhibition output. Commercial residencies often charge tuition.
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. Ocean Beach cohorts rotate through forms across quarterly workshops.
Quarterly workshops across San Diego plus summer artist residencies. Check our calendar for the next Ocean Beach-accessible session — some events occur near OB Pier, Dog Beach (Ocean Beach), others at partner community sites.
Yes. All Un Mar de Colores programs in Ocean Beach are 100% free — including 3/2mm wetsuits, soft-top surfboards, transportation from partner schools like Ocean Beach Elementary, Dana Middle School, and certified bilingual instruction. Funding comes from the San Diego Foundation, community grants, and individual donors. No Ocean Beach family has ever paid for our programming.
Primary water sessions run at OB Pier. We also use Dog Beach (Ocean Beach) for skill progression. Classroom components happen at OB Town Council and other partner sites. All water activities happen within lifeguard-flag zones.
We serve youth ages All ages. In Ocean Beach specifically, our recruitment runs through San Diego Unified School District — with priority enrollment for students from Ocean Beach Elementary, Dana 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 OB Pier, supervised by instructors certified by the San Diego Fire-Rescue Lifeguard Division. Water comfort is built progressively. In Ocean Beach, 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 Ocean Beach, where 21% 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 Ocean Beach surf programs charge $50–$150 per lesson; (2) we are BIPOC-led and our coaches reflect the 39%-BIPOC Ocean Beach 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 Ocean Beach, not just those who can afford access.
Visit our sign-up page or contact us directly. Priority enrollment goes to students of Ocean Beach Elementary, Dana Middle School and referrals from OB Town Council and San Diego River Park Foundation. Summer cohorts fill 3–4 weeks before start, so early contact is recommended.
Don't wait for summer — year-round Ocean Beach cohorts fill fast. Reach out now for free enrollment.
All Un Mar de Colores programs are free for Ocean Beach 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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