Un Mar de Colores · Ocean Beach, CA
Adults 18+ welcome — beach cleanups, youth mentorship, event logistics, and community organizing across San Diego.
Un Mar de Colores welcomes adult volunteers (18+) from Ocean Beach to support beach cleanups, youth mentorship, event logistics, and community organizing across San Diego County. Ocean Beach volunteers regularly support our programming at OB Pier, Dog Beach (Ocean Beach) and partner community sites including OB Town Council and San Diego River Park Foundation. We provide free orientation, cultural competency training, and pay for your background check.
Ongoing (monthly events + weekly program support) · 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.
Youth mentorship volunteers for Ocean Stewards after-school support Ocean Beach teens Tuesday–Thursday — tutoring, environmental literacy, and Thursday beach days near OB Pier, Dog Beach (Ocean Beach). Background check paid by Un Mar.
Youth-safety training for direct-youth volunteers meets nonprofit standards — Ocean Beach adults mentor with documented protocols, not improvisation.
Ocean Beach'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.
Cross-border watershed work matters to Ocean Beach because Tijuana River pollution and coastal health don't stop at a border fence. Our education modules name that reality honestly.
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.
Volunteers are the backbone of Un Mar de Colores. Monthly beach cleanups, weekly after-school program support, annual Surf Fiesta events, and ongoing community organizing all rely on volunteers from across San Diego County. We welcome adult volunteers (18+) with a range of skill sets and time commitments — from single-event cleanup volunteers to weekly mentors supporting Ocean Stewards. All volunteers complete a free orientation and a paid background check, and we provide cultural competency training to every direct-youth volunteer.
Our impact is measured in youth served, school partnerships, and watershed stewardship hours — published annually in our impact reports at mar-de-colores.org.
“"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."”
Contact Un Mar de Colores or complete our volunteer interest form. Attend free orientation, complete training matched to your role, and background check if mentoring youth. We'll match Ocean Beach adults to cleanup, event, or mentorship tracks.
Training prepares volunteers to mentor BIPOC youth respectfully — avoiding savior dynamics, honoring cultural context, and supporting trauma-informed environments. Required before direct-youth pairing for Ocean Beach mentors.
Annual Surf Fiesta, community showcases, summer camp Friday celebrations, and quarterly cultural arts exhibitions need logistics, setup, guest welcome, and photography volunteers from Ocean Beach.
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 18+. 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.
Ready to get your child in the water? Contact Un Mar de Colores — priority enrollment for Ocean Beach Title I school students.
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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