Surfrider Foundation - First Coast Chapter

The Surfrider Foundation is a non-profit grassroots organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of our world’s oceans, waves and beaches. Founded in 1984 by a handful of visionary surfers in Malibu, California, the Surfrider Foundation now maintains over 50,000 members and 90 chapters worldwide.

The First Coast Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation was founded in 2002 and spans the First Coast of Florida, from the Georgia border to the end of Anastasia Island. This includes the coastal counties of Nassau, Duval and St. Johns, in addition to the inland counties on the lower basin (Northern most section) of the St. Johns River: Clay and Putnam. Major population centers include Fernandina Beach/Amelia Island, Jacksonville, Jacksonville Beaches, Saint Augustine and surrounding beaches.

The First Coast Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation conducts numerous of beach clean-ups, ocean-friendly gardens and advocating for ocean-friendly restaurants in the following counties: Nassau, Duval and St. John's.

Beach Clean-Ups:

Beach cleanups can reduce litter, protect our ocean and raise awareness about litter and plastic pollution. Beach clean-ups provide a fun and easy way to volunteer and engage with our mission to protect our ocean, waves and beaches. Volunteers of all ages, community groups, tourists, clubs, local and corporate businesses and elected officials around the country contribute to the success of this program and are essential to keep our beaches and coastline clean. 

Ocean Friendly Restaurants:

The Ocean Friendly Restaurant (OFR) program helps restaurants minimize their impact on the ocean by adopting practices that reduce single-use plastic waste, maximize energy efficiency and conserve water.One restaurant, one customer at a time, increases awareness, drives change in behavior and ultimately creates scalable impact to reduce our plastic (and water!) footprint.

Ocean-Friendly Gardens:

Volunteers help local communities create Ocean Friendly Gardens, that conserve water and wildlife habitat with native plants, restore soil to sponge up rainwater and filter out pollution and ultimately reduce the amount of polluted runoff reaching the ocean. They also help us educate landscape professionals and advocate for change to government policy. By planting Ocean Friendly Gardens across the country—and more every day—the Surfrider Foundation has prevented over 13 million gallons of urban runoff from polluting our coastal waters and the ocean.