About
The Wahine Project offers surf, ocean sports, surf therapy, teen trips, women’s programs, men’s surf, group lessons and team building, individual lessons, and monthly workshops. The program includes a focus on ocean safety and ocean recreation, and it promotes physical and mental health through ocean interactions while developing a sense of social responsibility and environmental stewardship.
• Ages: 8–18 years old
The Wahine Project was created in 2010 and has spent 15 years on the beach. It was originally created to reach young girls around the world who would otherwise not have access to resources that would allow them to surf and later expanded in 2015 to offer programming for all youth. The program has no gender restrictions in any programs and supports gender expansiveness of participants, and it describes itself as a Safe Space environment with a celebration of diversity.
The Wahine Project states a mission of inspiring a global response that eliminates the barriers preventing a diversity of youth from a personal relation with the ocean and with one another, and it believes a relationship with the ocean will allow people to live their healthiest and fullest lives. It seeks to break down geographical, financial, and opportunity barriers that prevent youth participation in ocean sports and describes a belief that more time in the ocean is a powerful vehicle for self-empowerment and connecting diverse communities to the environment, the ocean, and one another. It also states a belief that equity in access is a key contribution to the vision of collective liberation.
The Wahine Project describes itself as a global community that believes everyone deserves access to the ocean, with more than 20,000 global program participants in 5 countries and over $1,000,000 in free programming. It recognizes that Black, Indigenous, People of Color, the LGBTQ+ community, and those living with disabilities have been marginalized from access to a relationship with the ocean and states a belief in investing in and amplifying those with lived experience in those systems. Program funding in 2025 is provided by Nancy Buck Ransom, Montage Health, Monterey Peninsula Foundation, and Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital Foundation/Children's Miracle Network, and it also runs an outreach program for North County Youth.
Alma Del Mar was established in 2020 to create a revenue stream for The Wahine Project. The Alma Del Mar store offers eco-friendly products and a community refill opportunity for everyday household items, and it features a Wild line of soaps and bath bombs made in house, with all proceeds benefiting Wahine programs. Monthly workshops are available for registration, and visiting the Alma Del Mar store is one way families can support the programs.
The founding director is Dionne Ybarra (she/her), a Mexican American born and raised in a marginalized neighborhood in East Salinas, California. The operations manager is Alice Aguillon (Alice), who is Chicana Native American, a former Wahine mom, and a former lead instructor overseeing teen groups.
A testimonial from Daisy, a student at Alisal High School, describes that being part of The Wahine Project gave her opportunities she never believed possible and that, as a young brown girl from East Salinas, she had not seen people of color surfing before participating in the program. She states that the program changed her life and expresses gratitude for the experience.
Last updated June 25, 2026.
• Ages: 8–18 years old
The Wahine Project was created in 2010 and has spent 15 years on the beach. It was originally created to reach young girls around the world who would otherwise not have access to resources that would allow them to surf and later expanded in 2015 to offer programming for all youth. The program has no gender restrictions in any programs and supports gender expansiveness of participants, and it describes itself as a Safe Space environment with a celebration of diversity.
The Wahine Project states a mission of inspiring a global response that eliminates the barriers preventing a diversity of youth from a personal relation with the ocean and with one another, and it believes a relationship with the ocean will allow people to live their healthiest and fullest lives. It seeks to break down geographical, financial, and opportunity barriers that prevent youth participation in ocean sports and describes a belief that more time in the ocean is a powerful vehicle for self-empowerment and connecting diverse communities to the environment, the ocean, and one another. It also states a belief that equity in access is a key contribution to the vision of collective liberation.
The Wahine Project describes itself as a global community that believes everyone deserves access to the ocean, with more than 20,000 global program participants in 5 countries and over $1,000,000 in free programming. It recognizes that Black, Indigenous, People of Color, the LGBTQ+ community, and those living with disabilities have been marginalized from access to a relationship with the ocean and states a belief in investing in and amplifying those with lived experience in those systems. Program funding in 2025 is provided by Nancy Buck Ransom, Montage Health, Monterey Peninsula Foundation, and Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital Foundation/Children's Miracle Network, and it also runs an outreach program for North County Youth.
Alma Del Mar was established in 2020 to create a revenue stream for The Wahine Project. The Alma Del Mar store offers eco-friendly products and a community refill opportunity for everyday household items, and it features a Wild line of soaps and bath bombs made in house, with all proceeds benefiting Wahine programs. Monthly workshops are available for registration, and visiting the Alma Del Mar store is one way families can support the programs.
The founding director is Dionne Ybarra (she/her), a Mexican American born and raised in a marginalized neighborhood in East Salinas, California. The operations manager is Alice Aguillon (Alice), who is Chicana Native American, a former Wahine mom, and a former lead instructor overseeing teen groups.
A testimonial from Daisy, a student at Alisal High School, describes that being part of The Wahine Project gave her opportunities she never believed possible and that, as a young brown girl from East Salinas, she had not seen people of color surfing before participating in the program. She states that the program changed her life and expresses gratitude for the experience.
Last updated June 25, 2026.
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