Un Mar de Colores · Mission Beach, CA
Mentorship from professional BIPOC surfers and alumni who know the contest circuit — not generic athletic advice.
Un Mar de Colores's Surf Athletic Scholarship program supports competitive BIPOC youth and teens from Mission Beach and the greater San Diego region. Scholarship athletes receive high-performance gear, competition entry fees, coaching, and travel support across the California contest circuit. Local training happens at Mission Beach. Referrals and nominations come through San Diego Unified School District athletics programs and our partner community organizations.
Ongoing · Completely free
Mission Beach's 2-mile peninsula gives our programs direct access to both open-ocean surf and the protected waters of Mission Bay for paddle fundamentals. We partner with Mission Beach Elementary and the Mission Bay Aquatic Center for water-comfort programming before open-ocean sessions. The South Mission Jetty area provides beginner-friendly protected waves on most swells.
Physical therapy and injury prevention for scholarship surfers — athletes aren't told to push through pain because rehab wasn't budgeted in Mission Beach households.
Surf Athletic Scholarship in Mission Beach is part of Un Mar's BIPOC-led Cali-Baja movement — competitive surfing as access right, not pay-to-play country club.
Recruitment in Mission Beach runs through counselors, teachers, and community partners who know which students need this most. We don't run open enrollment chaos — we build intentional cohorts.
Serving Mission Beach 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.
Used for intermediate progression; too exposed for first-time students on most days.
Mission Beach is home to the historic Belmont Park wooden roller coaster (1925), one of the oldest surviving seaside amusement parks in the United States.
In partnership with San Diego Unified School District and local community organizations, we recruit youth from 1+ Title I schools.
The Surf Athletic Scholarship program supports BIPOC youth and teens pursuing competitive surfing at the scholarship or professional level. The program provides high-performance wetsuits and boards, pays all competition entry fees, covers contest travel costs across the California circuit, and provides one-on-one coaching from certified trainers. Scholarship recipients are mentored by alumni and partner professional BIPOC surfers, and the program specifically addresses the financial barriers that have historically excluded Latino, Indigenous, and Black youth from the competitive surf pipeline.
We do not charge families. Ever. That policy is structural — grants, donors, and shop revenue fund access so Mission Beach youth are never waitlisted for inability to pay.
“"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."”
Yes — NSSA, WSA, and regional qualifier entry fees across the California contest circuit are paid for scholarship athletes. Mission Beach families aren't choosing between groceries and contest registration.
Latino, Indigenous, and Black youth have been historically excluded from competitive surf pipelines by cost and culture. With 37% of Mission Beach residents BIPOC, scholarship rewrites who gets fees, travel, and mentorship — access as corrective justice.
Yes — physical therapy and injury prevention are included. Mission Beach athletes aren't told to compete through pain because rehab wasn't budgeted at home.
Yes. All Un Mar de Colores programs in Mission Beach are 100% free — including 3/2mm wetsuits, soft-top surfboards, transportation from partner schools like Mission Beach Elementary, and certified bilingual instruction. Funding comes from the San Diego Foundation, community grants, and individual donors. No Mission Beach family has ever paid for our programming.
Primary water sessions run at Mission Beach. Classroom components happen at Mission Bay Aquatic Center and other partner sites. All water activities happen within lifeguard-flag zones.
We serve youth ages Youth & teens. In Mission Beach specifically, our recruitment runs through San Diego Unified School District — with priority enrollment for students from Mission Beach Elementary. 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 Mission Beach, supervised by instructors certified by the San Diego Fire-Rescue Lifeguard Division. Water comfort is built progressively. In Mission 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 Mission Beach, where 19% 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 Mission Beach surf programs charge $50–$150 per lesson; (2) we are BIPOC-led and our coaches reflect the 37%-BIPOC Mission 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 Mission Beach, not just those who can afford access.
Visit our sign-up page or contact us directly. Priority enrollment goes to students of Mission Beach Elementary and referrals from Mission Bay Aquatic Center and Mission Beach Elementary. Summer cohorts fill 3–4 weeks before start, so early contact is recommended.
Sign your Mission Beach youth up today — every program is 100% free, with wetsuits, boards, and transportation included.
All Un Mar de Colores programs are free for Mission 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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