THE Celebration
Friday April 29th 5-8PM
Location: Seymour Marine Discovery Center
Please join us in celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Santa Cruz World Surfing Reserve as we highlight our conservation achievements and look ahead towards protecting the places we love.
We are excited to share more about the work being done in Santa Cruz to protect our coastlines and our vision for the coming years.
Open to the public – attendance is free!
Family-friendly
Food trucks, beer & wine available
The event will have information about Save The Waves, the Santa Cruz World Surfing Reserve, and a short film to learn more about our work in the community. We will also being announcing the winners from The Ride of The Reserve!
Register for a chance to be entered into a drawing for goodies and gear!
All safety and COVID protocols will be observed, with special attention to case numbers for both events.
To learn more, contact Shaun Burns, Coordinator for the Santa Cruz World Surfing Reserve at:
RIDE OF THE RESERVE
Now Open!
Surfers, photographers, and activists will have the chance to enter their submission to be awarded the 2022
How it works:
Submit your entry by posting on Instagram and tagging the @santacruzworldsurfingreserve and use the hashtag #SCRideoftheReserve. There will be five different divisions awarded:
- Best ridden wave recorded all ages
- Best ridden wave recorded 18 years old and younger
- Best photograph of the Santa Cruz World Surfing Reserve
- Most unique alternative ride recorded*
- Best conservation action**
Winners will be announced at the Santa Cruz World Surfing Reserve 10th anniversary celebration on April 29th, 2022 at the Seymour Center.
Rules:
Each submission must be completed within the Santa Cruz World Surfing Reserve boundary, Natural Bridges to Opal Cliffs, and take place from January 1st to April 24th, 2022. Each entry must be submitted before midnight on April 24th, 2022. Qualified entries must be posted on Instagram with correct mention and tag. Submissions will be judged by the Santa Cruz World Surfing Reserve ambassadors. Winners will be announced at the Santa Cruz World Surfing Reserve 10th anniversary celebration on April 29th, 2022 at the Seymour Center.
*The Santa Cruz World Surfing Reserve has many types of waves that offer more than just high performance surfing. We encourage different styles and ways to ride a wave. We want to include everyone and all types of wave riding abilities in this division, whether it’s on a longboard, fun board, bodyboard, mat, or no board! Get creative with it!!
**The best conservation action will award the best stewardship act towards preserving the Santa Cruz World Surfing Reserve (i.e beach cleanup, tree/plant restoration, habitat protection).
“Looking Back, Moving Forward”
In April 2012, Santa Cruz was officially dedicated as a World Surfing Reserve (WSR) due to its quality of surf, environmental characteristics, the strong surfing heritage, and local conservation leadership. In 2014 Save The Waves hosted a summit bringing together the local community of notable electeds, non-profit leaders, surf community luminaries, and select business leaders to create the Local Stewardship Council (LSC) and Local Stewardship Plan (LSP).
The gathering was a combination of plenary sessions, breakout sessions, and activities with the goal being to identify and address the central issues that face our surf breaks in Santa Cruz. The threats brought forth were built into the LSP and have served as the main pillars of work for the last decade.
Now, ten years later, we are hosting a summit and celebration to acknowledge our achievements and evolve the LSP to today’s issues by mapping out the next decade. Santa Cruz has a variety of active community and environmental groups who undertake projects within the World Surfing Reserve boundaries and they are critical to the long-term conservation of the reserve.


Learn more about the reserve
Save The Waves Coalition dedicated Santa Cruz as the 4th World Surfing Reserve because of its world class waves, surfing heritage and biodiverse ecosystems. The Reserve spans from Natural Bridges to Opal Cliffs.