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Un Mar de Colores · Solana Beach, CA
Family-friendly participation — kids, grandparents, and neighbors from Solana Beach welcome on the sand.
Un Mar de Colores hosts ongoing Ocean Stewardship cleanup and conservation programming across the Solana Beach area and surrounding coast. Monthly events combine hands-on beach cleanup with environmental justice education, citizen science data collection, and policy literacy. Our Solana Beach programming partners with La Colonia de Eden Gardens Community Center, Boys & Girls Club of Solana Beach, San Dieguito Academy, and all events are free and family-friendly.
Monthly cleanups, quarterly workshops · Completely free
Solana Beach's Fletcher Cove is one of North County's safest lifeguarded swim-and-surf beaches, making it ideal for our One Ocean Scholarship cohorts. We partner with Solana Beach School District and the San Dieguito Union High School District for youth recruitment, with a focus on inland neighborhoods east of I-5 where coastal access is geographically close but economically out of reach.
With 14% Spanish-speaking households in Solana Beach, bilingual cleanup briefings and materials are standard — not English-only safety instructions on the sand.
Quarterly ocean stewardship workshops in San Diego deepen advocacy and organizing skills for Solana Beach participants ready to move beyond monthly cleanups.
Solana Beach families deserve instructors who look like their kids and speak their language. With 24% BIPOC residents, bilingual coaching isn't a nice-to-have — it's how we earn trust on day one.
With 13,296 residents, Solana Beach is one of the communities where a single free surf cohort can change dozens of lives per season. Our shuttles and school partnerships make distance (on the coast) a logistics problem we solve, not a barrier families carry alone.
Primary Solana Beach teaching location. One of North County's safest lifeguarded swim-and-surf beaches.
Fletcher Cove was opened in 1946 after dynamite was used to blast through the sandstone bluffs — creating the only public beach access in Solana Beach.
In partnership with Solana Beach School District and local community organizations, we recruit youth from 2+ Title I schools.
Ocean Stewardship at Un Mar de Colores connects coastal cleanup action with deeper environmental justice education. Monthly cleanups run across Oceanside, Imperial Beach, Cardiff, and partner sites, with each event combining hands-on debris removal with short teaching moments about the watershed-to-ocean pipeline, the plastic pollution crisis, and California coastal policy. Our Ocean Stewardship program is free and family-friendly, and we specifically prioritize recruitment from BIPOC communities whose relationships with the coast have historically been gated by cost or culture. Every participant contributes to our citizen science database tracking pollution patterns across San Diego County.
Program safety is documented: lifeguard coordination, 4:1 ratios on youth water days, trauma-informed staff training, and parent communication protocols in English and Spanish.
“"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."”
We connect cleanup action to who bears pollution burden — especially cross-border Tijuana River watershed impacts that close beaches near Solana Beach. Stewardship isn't just litter; it's justice framing for BIPOC communities gated from coastal spaces.
Post-cleanup debrief and reflection sessions turn action into learning — plastic pollution science, watershed connections, and advocacy skills. Solana Beach participants leave as informed stewards, not just tired volunteers.
Sites rotate across North County and San Diego coastlines — including areas near Fletcher Cove. We select locations based on need, safety, and accessibility from Solana Beach. Event pages list specific meet points.
Yes. All Un Mar de Colores programs in Solana Beach are 100% free — including 3/2mm wetsuits, soft-top surfboards, transportation from partner schools like Solana Vista Elementary, Skyline School, and certified bilingual instruction. Funding comes from the San Diego Foundation, community grants, and individual donors. No Solana Beach family has ever paid for our programming.
Primary water sessions run at Fletcher Cove. Classroom components happen at La Colonia de Eden Gardens Community Center and other partner sites. All water activities happen within lifeguard-flag zones.
We serve youth ages All ages. In Solana Beach specifically, our recruitment runs through Solana Beach School District — with priority enrollment for students from Solana Vista Elementary, Skyline 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 Fletcher Cove, supervised by instructors certified by the San Diego Fire-Rescue Lifeguard Division. Water comfort is built progressively. In Solana 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 Solana Beach, 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 Solana Beach surf programs charge $50–$150 per lesson; (2) we are BIPOC-led and our coaches reflect the 24%-BIPOC Solana 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 Solana Beach, not just those who can afford access.
Visit our sign-up page or contact us directly. Priority enrollment goes to students of Solana Vista Elementary, Skyline School and referrals from La Colonia de Eden Gardens Community Center and Boys & Girls Club of Solana Beach. Summer cohorts fill 3–4 weeks before start, so early contact is recommended.
Join hundreds of Solana Beach families who trust Un Mar de Colores for free ocean programming. Enroll today.
All Un Mar de Colores programs are free for Solana 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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