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The Surfrider Foundation

is a community of everyday people who passionately protect our playground - the ocean, waves, and beaches that provide us so much enjoyment.

100% Protection of Our Coastlines

Our model is to engage environmental experts to create solutions, unite local and national resources to protect the coast, and leverage our local chapter network’s knowledge with a national perspective.

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Our ocean, waves and beaches are everything. Let’s save them.

Event _ Chandler (GWU), Minh, Emma Maschal

Who We Are

Our model is to engage environmental experts to create solutions, unite local and national resources to protect the coast, and leverage our local knowledge with a national perspective.

Meet The Team

Our Core Values



The Surfrider Foundation believes that getting outside and engaging with the natural world, especially the ocean, waves and beaches, is inspiring, supports healthier lifestyles, improves productivity and ultimately creates a better culture.

1. Honor the mission.

Surfrider is dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of the world’s ocean, waves and beaches for all people, through a powerful activist network. At the center of every action we take is our mission, our grassroots structure and local perspectives. We aim for positive impact and measurable results on behalf of the communities that we serve.

2. The beach is fun and Surfrider should be, too.

Surfrider comprises people who love the ocean, work hard to protect it, and need to enjoy it as part of keeping advocacy gratifying and fun. We are optimistic about the future of our ocean and coasts because our volunteers make a positive difference every day.

3. We are open and inclusive.

Our ocean, waves and beaches belong to all of us, and we welcome all who are interested in joining our movement. Through our principles of Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI), we seek to engage and represent the communities that we work in, and tosupport, create, foster and champion diversity at all levels within our organization.

4. We cultivate leaders.

We believe that the most effective way to build a coastal protection movement is to provide leadership opportunities for our volunteers. By cultivating their voices and skills, we are preparing the next generation of coastal defenders to lead within their own communities.

5. We are problem solvers.

We are solution-oriented. Surfrider applies science, critical thinking and innovation to assess problems and develop practical long-term solutions that protect our coasts.

6. The Surfrider is yours to create.

The Surfrider culture is defined by the people who show up with a love of the ocean and care deeply for its well-being. Through science, community and respect, we are people who joyfully take on the challenges before us. Our culture is one of selflessness, sharing, and bringing people together to achieve Surfrider’s mission.

Surfrider DC

The DC Chapter represents residents from the greater Washington, DC area, including western Maryland and Northern Virginia. It naturally draws coastal transplants who have found themselves landlocked, as well as river- and bay-oriented natives. Because of our location amidst lawmakers, the chapter’s efforts include legislative agendas as well as river/bay clean-ups and public education. Most importantly, we realize that despite being hours from the nearest beach, our local actions can significantly affect the health of the coast, the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers, the Chesapeake Bay, and the rest of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed!

IT’S AN UPSTREAM BATTLE

What can a Surfrider chapter that is more than two hours from the beach do to help with ocean issues? Well, considering that we live in a major metropolitan area with waterways that feed into the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, there’s plenty that we can do to educate our neighbors about good practices that will keep our water clean. The Potomac and Anacostia Rivers are part of the lifeblood of the Chesapeake Bay and need to be guarded against stormwater flow and pollution.

The chapter holds volunteer and educational events in the DC area and at the beach. We also partner with local environmental organizations and other Surfrider chapters (i.e. Ocean City, Delaware, and Virginia Beach) for issues that arise, such as beach access, legislative disputes, coastal erosion, and various other water-quality topics. We also help with national issues as needed.

On top of that, we make sure we do fun stuff, too. Surf trips, movie nights, and happy hours are all part of keeping the stoke alive for the surprisingly large number of inland surfers and water lovers we have here in the Capital Region.