UMDC youth playing in the surf
Youth Programs

Free youth ocean programs across San Diego County and beyond borders.

Our programs meet young people where they are, and walk with them as they grow, lead, and return to bring others into the water. From a child’s first wave to a young leader’s first stand at the policy table.

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38and countingZip Codes Served
San DiegoCounty and Beyond Borders
FreeFor Every Family, Always

The Shore

Welcome · Belong · Begin

The first wave. Where the ocean becomes home.

The Shore meets young people exactly where they are. Low barriers, high joy, family included. Our programs here say: you belong, and mean it.

BelongingHealing
One Ocean youth at Cardiff State Beach
Photo: One Ocean cohort
✦Anchor ProgramBelongingHealing

One Ocean

A year of ocean, family, and finding your place in the water.

Our one year scholarship weaving surf therapy, eco field trips, and mentorship into a rhythm the whole family can follow. Bi monthly weekend gatherings include parents and siblings. Most of our youth begin here.

Ages
6 – 12
Cohort
30 youth + familias
Length
One full year
Cost
Free · scholarship
Apply
Feb – Mar · Cycle begins May
NGSS · 3-LS4-3, 5-ESS3-1OLP 1 · 5 · 6Clinical care integrated
Apply or learn more
◇By PartnershipBelongingHealing

Intro to the Ocean

Friday afternoons, where the ocean becomes part of the school week.

A weekly ocean program UMDC delivers in partnership with Laurel Elementary for their 4th and 5th graders. Friday afternoons become a time for ocean literacy, water familiarity, and the first quiet sense that the shore belongs to them too. We bring the equipment, the instructors, and the same care that anchors all of our work.

Intro to the Ocean is offered through Laurel Elementary, who bring funding for the experience. Our scholarship dollars are reserved for the youth in our anchor programs.

Grades
4th and 5th
Site
Laurel Elementary
Format
Friday afternoons
NGSS · 4-ESS2-1, 5-LS2-1OLP 1 · 5 · 6Eco-therapy informed
For schools and partners
◇By PartnershipBelonging

Un Día con Un Mar

A day of ocean, designed for your youth.

A single day ocean experience UMDC delivers in partnership with schools, nonprofits, and community organizations. We bring your youth into the water with full equipment, certified instructors, and the same care that anchors all our work. Recent partners include MANA of San Diego, who brought 75 of their rising leaders into the ocean with us.

Un Día con Un Mar is offered through partner organizations who bring funding for the experience. Our scholarship dollars are reserved for the youth in our anchor programs.

For
Partner orgs and schools
Format
Single day
OLP 1 · 6Eco-therapy informed
Bring your youth to the ocean
○Once in the NetworkBelonging

Alumni Surf Days

Once a familia, always a familia.

A way back into the water for youth and families who have walked the cycle with us. The ocean keeps making room, and these days hold that door open.

Open only to youth and families who have completed a UMDC program. The cycle continues, but the path begins inside our network.

Open To
Program alumni
Rhythm
Quarterly
Cost
Free
Eco-therapy informed
Stay connected

The Reef

Root · Grow · Steward

Where identity meets stewardship.

The Reef is the deepening. Like kelp anchoring to bedrock, young people who have stepped into the water now root themselves, learning to know the place, the people, and themselves more deeply.

IdentityStewardship
Oceanside Stewards students at Lincoln Middle School
Photo: Oceanside Stewards
✦Anchor ProgramIdentityStewardship

Oceanside Stewards

Place based stewardship, after the school day ends.

Our after school program for 8th graders across the Oceanside Unified School District uses the ocean as a living classroom for environmental stewardship, cultural awareness, and personal growth, woven with Indigenous perspectives on the land and waters we share. Open to any 8th grader in Oceanside.

Grade
8th grade
District
OUSD, Oceanside
Format
After school, weekly
Cost
Free
Apply
August · Begins with the school year
NGSS · MS-LS2-5, MS-ESS3-3OLP 5 · 6Eco-therapy informed
For schools & families
Identity

One Ocean · Continued

Where the first year becomes a foundation.

Youth who began in their first cycle return for the deeper arc, building water competency, growing confidence, and learning the patterns of their own resilience.

Path
Returning cohort
Cycle
Continued
NGSS · 3-LS4-3, 5-ESS3-1OLP 1 · 5 · 6Clinical care integrated
Read more
Watershed Explorers youth on a seasonal field expedition
Photo: Watershed Explorers
◐Seasonal · Activates with the TideStewardship

Watershed Explorers

From mountain headwaters to the open Pacific.

Seasonal expeditions tracing the path of water itself, from Cuyamaca’s mountain springs to Cardiff State Beach. Youth and families learn that the ocean begins long before the shore.

Grade
4th and families
When
Activates seasonally
Cost
Free
NGSS · 5-ESS2-1, 5-ESS2-2OLP 1 · 6Eco-therapy informed
Join the interest list

The Horizon

Lead · Mentor · Move

Where youth become the movement.

The cycle completes itself when those who were brought into the water turn and bring others. The Horizon is where youth step into voice, for their region, their bioregion, and the generations behind them.

LeadershipMovement
Binational Climate Academy youth leaders
Photo: Binational Climate Academy
Building on Our 2025 NAAEE Award Winning ModelLeadershipMovement

Binational Climate Academy

Cross border climate leadership for the next generation of stewards.

Our Binational Climate Academy prepares young people across San Diego County and beyond to lead climate action, environmental advocacy, and community work that crosses lines drawn on maps. The academy builds on the foundation of Generación SEA, our predecessor program recognized internationally as a 2025 NAAEE Global E STEM Award winner. That recognition placed our binational youth climate work among the most rigorously evaluated youth environmental programs in the world, and it informs every piece of the academy we are building now.

Region
San Diego County and beyond
Format
Cohort academy
Cost
Free
Lineage
Generación SEA, NAAEE 2025
NGSS · HS-ESS3-1, HS-ESS3-5OLP 3 · 6Eco-therapy informed
Learn about the Binational Climate Academy

“And then the youth who were brought into the water turn, and bring others.”

~

Our programs aren’t a ladder. They are a cycle, shaped by Indigenous ways of knowing, by the rhythms of tides and seasons, and by the youth who return to bring others into the water. To understand the philosophy behind every program above, read more about how we work.

Read about our approach and the cycle
A note on rigor

Built on Credentialed
Frameworks

Our programs are built on credentialed frameworks and trauma-informed care. Here is what each label on our program cards means.

NGSS

Aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards, the science education framework used in California and most U.S. states. Codes like MS-LS2-5 name specific grade-band Performance Expectations students work toward.

OLP

Aligned with the Ocean Literacy Principles, the seven foundational ideas about the ocean every educated person should know (NOAA / National Marine Educators Association). See the full list below.

Clinical care integrated

Licensed mental health care is woven into the program through Mar y Mente, our California BBS-certified supervised practicum site delivering surf-based therapy under clinical supervision.

Eco-therapy informed

Built on trauma-informed and Indigenous-rooted principles that draw on the healing rhythms of the ocean, without licensed clinical care as part of the delivery.

The seven Ocean Literacy Principles

1

The Earth has one big ocean with many features.

2

The ocean and life in the ocean shape the features of Earth.

3

The ocean is a major influence on weather and climate.

4

The ocean made Earth habitable.

5

The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems.

6

The ocean and humans are inextricably interconnected.

7

The ocean is largely unexplored.

Youth in the Water

Un Mar de Colores youth ocean program San Diego County
Un Mar de Colores youth ocean program San Diego County
Un Mar de Colores youth ocean program San Diego County
Un Mar de Colores youth ocean program San Diego County
Un Mar de Colores youth ocean program San Diego County
Un Mar de Colores youth ocean program San Diego County
Un Mar de Colores youth ocean program San Diego County
Un Mar de Colores youth ocean program San Diego County
Un Mar de Colores youth ocean program San Diego County
Un Mar de Colores youth ocean program San Diego County
Un Mar de Colores youth ocean program San Diego County
Un Mar de Colores youth ocean program San Diego County
Un Mar de Colores youth ocean program San Diego County
Un Mar de Colores youth ocean program San Diego County
Un Mar de Colores youth ocean program San Diego County
Un Mar de Colores youth ocean program San Diego County
Un Mar de Colores youth ocean program San Diego County
Un Mar de Colores youth ocean program San Diego County
Common Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Our programs follow a cycle — The Shore (access and belonging), The Reef (identity and stewardship), and The Horizon (leadership and movement). Anchor programs include One Ocean (ages 6–12), Oceanside Stewards (8th grade, OUSD), Watershed Explorers, and the Binational Climate Academy. We also offer partner programs like Intro to the Ocean and Un Día con Un Mar.

Yes. All anchor scholarship programs are free for participating families. We provide equipment, instruction, and the care that anchors all our work at no cost. Partner programs are funded by the schools and organizations who bring youth to us.

One Ocean serves ages 6–12. Oceanside Stewards is open to any 8th grader in the Oceanside Unified School District. Watershed Explorers activates seasonally for 4th graders and families. The Binational Climate Academy serves youth ready for cross-border climate leadership across San Diego County.

No prior experience is required. The Shore is designed for first steps into the water — low barriers, high joy, family included. We meet young people exactly where they are with certified instructors and all equipment provided.

Our programs are not a ladder — they are a cycle. Youth may begin at The Shore with One Ocean, deepen at The Reef through stewardship and identity work, and grow into leadership at The Horizon. Alumni and returning cohorts continue the cycle, often bringing others into the water.

Step into the cycle

Bring your young person into the water.

Whether they are stepping in for the first time or ready to lead, there is a place for them with us.

Apply to a Program
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