Local Youth Surf Program
SERVICE & SURF IN THE MARINO BALLENA NATIONAL PARK
We officially started our Service & Surf program in 2012. We provide our knowledge, surf instruction, and resources to community members, especially youth, in exchange for community service work in the form of participation in a group trash cleanup. This program was built on the idea of "paying it forward," both for participants and for ourselves. It also aims to foster a sense of community so that together, we can work to keep our local marine park clean and beautiful.
The trash cleanup, usually on the beach, is largely symbolic - the act of picking up trash can feel tedious and causes both participants and observers to think twice about littering and even about using the items in the first place! The surf lessons are meant to empower community youth, showing them what they're capable of and exposing them to the ocean. These events, unfortunately, had to be cancelled during the pandemic.
Facilitating Access to Yoga
Yoga for the Community
The Yoga for the Community program started in 2013 with the intention of increasing yoga access and awareness. Yoga promotes physical health among attendees, and for those who incorporate both its physical as well as other (philosophical or lifestyle) practices to their lives, it can be revolutionary in the realms of mental, emotional, and spiritual. The program has evolved over the years as the needs of community members and what we were able to offer evolved. From in person, "pay-it-forward" style classes in Spanish for community and staff members, to free or reduced classes and courses to those who had interest and need. We look forward to this program's continued evolution as times and technology changes!
Coastal Reforestation Project
SEMILLA DE BALLENA
Semilla de Ballena was an initiative that Bodhi Surf + Yoga helped start in 2014 along with Geoporter, Costa Rica Culture Tours, and Global Leadership Adventures' Protecting the Pacific program. It is a project that focuses on reforesting lands in the community using local and native trees. This initiative has several components: collecting seeds, planting and caring for them in the tree nursery, re-planting the seedlings, and monitoring their growth. One of the main goals of this initiative is to protect the area against coastal erosion. We have contributed in several ways: co-designing the project, dedicating service hours, and making it a pinnacle project for our summer student service groups. Only time will tell what impact our collective efforts have, but it sure has felt good to get our hands dirty!
Plastic-Free Initiative
BAHÍA BALLENA LIBRE DE PLÁSTICO
In 2016, we were one of 15 local businesses that gathered on World Oceans Day to come up with ideas to reduce our plastic impact as a community. We were also one of the first that made a commitment to refuse single-use plastics. For several years, a portion of the funding from our Travelers' Philanthropy Program was used to advance the Bahia Ballena Libre de Plastico. Ahead of the annual Whales and Dolphins Festival held in September and October in Bahia Ballena, countless individuals, organizations, and businesses came together to create a nine meter long humpback whale replica out of 3,494 single-use plastic bottles. The whale has been displayed at festivals and public sites all over Costa Rica, and has served as a symbol of human plastic consumption and its impact on the marine ecosystem, reminding us of the importance of reducing our impact.
The Impact Beyond Our Shores
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Corporate Responsibility Measures
Bodhi Surf + Yoga is built on an ethos of social and environmental responsibility, and our business a tool by which we forge a better world. Read on to see the various ways how.
