In 2023, OPC awarded Proposition 68 funds to Save The Waves Coalition for the first comprehensive study of the climate vulnerability of Santa Cruz’s iconic surf breaks. Completed in summer 2025, the project brought together Save The Waves, Integral Consulting, and Black Surf Santa Cruz to assess both the economic value of surfing and the risks posed by sea level rise.

The newly released report, Climate Vulnerability of California’s Natural Surfing Capital, shines a light on the value of a wave, showing surfing’s significant role in local economy and culture. Using a “Surfonomics” approach, the study found that surfing generates at least $194.7 million annually in Santa Cruz, with more than 783,000 surf visits each year. Visitors alone contribute an estimated $44.5 million annually through trips, while the broader surfing economy—including equipment and services – adds another $150.2 million.

Equally important, the project elevated surfing’s role as a cultural practice and a community connector. For many, Santa Cruz’s surf breaks are not only world-class recreation sites but also living cultural landmarks, tied to personal identity, community history, and California’s coastal heritage. Through the leadership of Black Surf Santa Cruz, the project explored how access to the ocean and surf culture has not always been equitable, and how climate change could deepen existing disparities. Addressing these inequities is central to ensuring that future generations, across all backgrounds, can benefit from the joy, health, and cultural meaning of surfing.

The report also examined how sea level rise could threaten these surf breaks and, in turn, the economic, cultural, and community benefits they provide. It offers adaptation pathways and policy recommendations to help protect Santa Cruz’s waves and coastal communities into the future, including strategies that prioritize equitable access and cultural resilience alongside ecological and economic resilience.

To share these results, Save The Waves released a 5-minute video summarizing the findings and policy implications. This completed project provides a first-of-its-kind model for understanding the intersection of surfing, coastal economies, and climate change in California’s “Natural Surfing Capital.”

Kiani Baetsle, 2025 OPC Summer Intern

“Kiani joined OPC as a 2025 Summer Intern, spurred by her longtime interest in ecosystem restoration and conservation. She is currently a senior at UC Berkeley studying Conservation and Resource Studies with a minor in Geospatial Information Science and Technology. Kiani has explored many research interests, from the phenological variation of Plestiodon skinks to camera trap classification for the California Wolf Project, and more recently on the effects of marine heatwave duration on Pisaster larvae in Friday Harbor Laboratories. Her time at OPC was spent in close collaboration with Biodiversity Project Manager Pike Spector and the OPC Biodiversity Team, where she helped draft the 2025 Kelp Research and Restoration Informational Item, and the development of the Coast and Ocean Monitoring spreadsheet to track long-term monitoring programs in California across various entities and governance levels. Outside of work and school she likes to hike, craft (occasionally whittle), travel, and explore unique spaces of cities like San Francisco. 

“Being an intern at OPC has introduced me to the world of biodiversity conservation and restoration, since it is my first time truly experiencing such an applied intersection of science and policy. I was particularly engaged in a 2025 synthesis of state engagement in kelp research and restoration work to-date, through which I compiled information on and familiarized myself with related efforts. I was able to link the facts that I had placed on paper to the moving pieces, organizations, and people I had been interacting with during my time at OPC. Seeing this web of connections has been incredibly inspirational and brings an optimistic light to the future of our kelp forests, as well as coasts and oceans as a whole. I am grateful for all that I have been able to learn and experience, from understanding the basics of working in a state agency to kayaking in Monterey with fellow team members, and am excited for a future in supporting California’s ecosystems and resources for all!”