September Chapters Recap

September was another busy month for Surfrider Chapters in California! Warm weather and warm water along much of the coast are being well received by surfers and beachgoers, as people are flocking to the beach. The month was full of beach cleanups (including Coastal Cleanup Day), chapter meetings, water quality testing, and other fun activities. Surfrider Chapters also played a big part in supporting important statewide legislation in September that became law, and you can read about it in this 2026 CA Legislative Session Recap. (Feature photo above of the Monterey Chapter by Harry Parker Photography.)

The San Diego Chapter celebrated Latino Conservation Week by participating in a series of events aimed at engaging Latinos in outdoor activities and advocacy for our natural resources. You can read the San Diego Chapter Manager’s blog about why diversity and representation in conservation is important here.

The South OC Chapter had a blast this month representing Surfrider at a ton of community events, including the WSL Trestles Pro, Ohana Music Festival, and the Ocean Institute’s Maritime Festival!

The North OC Chapter had an impactful Coastal Cleanup Day, removing nearly 700 lbs of trash from the world-famous Wedge in Newport Beach.

The Long Beach Chapter hosted a series of Ocean Friendly Garden workdays in partnership with Long Beach Utilities to create beautiful, climate-resilient, stormwater-filtering gardens on their property.

The South Bay Chapter’s Blue Water Task Force Lab is back in action for the school year! Their program, uniquely titled “Teach and Test,” works directly with middle and high school students to engage them in hands-on environmental science. Check out their results here!

The Los Angeles Chapter rounded out a busy month with a chapter meeting at Gladstones, a local Ocean Friendly Restaurant. Attendees learned more about the OFR program and celebrated successes after the closing of this year’s legislative session – all with delicious food and a great view!

The Ventura Chapter was busy as usual with their three monthly cleanups, a chapter meeting, and co-hosting a Hands Across The Sand event with the Sierra Club and CFROG. Over 100 people of all ages joined Hands Across The Sand near the Ventura Pier to say NO to offshore oil drilling and YES to clean energy! The rally was in response to the restart of the Sable oil pipeline in Santa Barbara and the upcoming federal government plan to open up the Santa Barbara Channel to big oil for more offshore oil drilling and oil spills that impact the ocean, coast, and coastal economy. You can learn more at surfrider.org/drilling-is-killing

The San Luis Obispo Chapter also hosted their own Hands Across The Sand event at Grover Beach. Click here for some of the media coverage.

Coastal Cleanup Day was a historic day for the Monterey Chapter as they had over 140 volunteers lug over 1,500 pounds of trash off of the beach and dunes at Sand City, including over 1,800 cigarette butts.

The Santa Cruz Chapter participated in a Surf Activism event at Patagonia Santa Cruz in September! It was a great night of learning, good conversations, and connecting with fellow surfers and ocean lovers. Folks heard about Patagonia’s work to protect the Great Lakes from the Line 5 pipeline, followed by an update on Surfrider’s efforts to stop offshore oil drilling in California.

The San Mateo County Chapter and the Linda Mar Water Quality Coalition launched a human health survey as part of their ongoing work to monitor and address the habitually bad water quality at Linda Mar Beach. In their efforts to raise awareness about the issue, they tabled at FogFest and started a weekly “Linda Mar health stories” series.

The San Francisco Chapter kicked off September with a speaker series at Patagonia SF about the federal threats to our coast and ocean. They teamed up with nine other organizations for a bioblitz at Ocean Beach, and last but not least, mobilized 84 volunteers to clean the beach for Coastal Cleanup Day.

Community members in Marin learned about Ocean Health and the work Surfrider is doing to protect (and enjoy!) our ocean, waves, and beaches during an evening film event at the Muir Beach Community Center followed by a panel discussion with filmmaker Dana Frankoff, ocean conservationist Dan Haifley, and Surfrider’s Northern California Regional Manager Sara Heintzelman.

The Sonoma Coast Chapter had a crew cleaning up North Salmon Creek beach over Labor Day weekend, emptied their Butt Cans across Sonoma County, and geared up for their annual Blue Water Paddle Race taking place the first Saturday of October.

The Humboldt Chapter and the Cal Poly Humboldt Surfrider Club teamed up with Outdoor Adventures at Cal Poly Humboldt to clean by land and by water and removed 460 pounds of trash on International & California Coastal Cleanup Day!