Understanding Ocean Access in California
California Ocean Access: Benefits and Barriers
Have you asked yourself what the ocean means to you?
California’s coast is central to the state’s identity, culture and economy. But what does it mean in people’s everyday lives? Who gets to enjoy the ocean’s benefits? And what barriers prevent some communities from benefiting from the ocean?
Led by CMSF social scientists, the Ocean Access: Benefits and Barriers Project has spent the past three years using community-engaged research to explore this question across California’s coastal counties. We aim to guide future coastal management so that everyone has a fair opportunity to enjoy the ocean’s benefits.
California has over 800 miles of coastline and 26.8 million people live in coastal counties (about two-thirds of the state’s population), so the Ocean Access Project has been an incredible opportunity to mix formal social science with listening to people’s stories. Over the course of our research, we’ve surveyed over 5,000 people, interviewed over 30 community leaders and Tribal members, and held focus groups with 230 people. These social science methods are designed to help us find patterns in the experiences of so many people. We’re finishing fieldwork this month and will spend the next several months formally analyzing the data we collected. But we want to share a sneak preview.
Manuela Diaz helps a fisherman complete the Ocean Access Survey during a pier fishing event hosted b
When Dr. Jenny Selgrath, the Ocean Access Project Director, was growing up in LA, she did junior lifeguards (a summer camp at the beach focused on ocean skills) in Santa Monica at the beach where they filmed the original BayWatch. At the time, the most popular TV show in the world, BayWatch, spread the idea that the ocean in California is a place for beautiful, young, rich, and fit people to do sporty activities.
But in our survey, we have learned that the ideas about the beach promoted by Hollywood are not aligned with how the beach is experienced by the majority of Californians. Instead, our research found that across California, people’s main coastal activities include walking, running, or hiking, spending time with family and friends, enjoying sunsets, and observing wildlife like seals and pelicans. All these activities are tied to a sense of community, peace, and wonder. If you’ve spent time at California’s beaches, you can probably picture it: groups gathered around barbecues, people walking their dogs or running barefoot along the shore, or someone watching the sunset from their car in a beach parking lot.
Visitors pause along a coastal trail to enjoy the sunset over the ocean, summer 2026. Photo: Dr. Jen Beachgoers walk their dogs along the shoreline on a summer day, 2026. Photo: Dr. Jenny Selgrath.
Our recently published paper in Nature Communications helped us understand what these coastal activities bring to people’s lives. Based on 1,691 survey responses, we found that non-material benefits like personal wellbeing, connection, and relationships contributed more to respondents’ wellbeing than material benefits like income or employment (Frawley et al., 2026). This is noteworthy because, in contrast to people’s values, ocean management often focuses on optimizing economic benefits over non-material benefits.
But enjoying these benefits isn’t equally easy for everyone. For vulnerable and underserved communities, things like environmental safety concerns, difficulty affording a visit, or lack of infrastructure can stand in the way. What we learned is that these barriers don’t just keep people from the water—they can also keep them from the wellbeing and connection the ocean offers, potentially widening structural inequalities that already exist (Frawley et al., 2026).
This summer - years after Dr. Jenny Selgrath’s junior lifeguard days - our project coordinator, Manuela Díaz, walked down the beach in Santa Monica and found the filming for the 2026 remake of BayWatch. The TV show is still about young, beautiful people doing sporty things at the beach. But it brought back a question we’ve been thinking about throughout this project: How can we tell the real story of people and California’s oceans?
As we finish our fieldwork, we’re reflecting on all the inspiring and important stories people have shared with us. The stories we have gathered through our research will guide us in designing recommendations and in telling a fuller story of California’s people and oceans.
We invite you to explore more about this project on the Benefits and Barriers: Ocean Access Project website, and follow us on social media to stay connected and receive updates!
And if you are interested in our process, the Benefits and Barriers: Ocean Access Project is funded by the California Ocean Protection Council. We work in collaboration with university researchers, community partners, and Tribal members. Based in community partnerships, we co-developed project goals and used three main tools to understand people’s connection to the ocean (interviews with community leaders and Tribal members, the survey, and community and Tribal focus groups; Figure 1). Based on our findings, we are developing management recommendations and community outreach to make ocean spaces more accessible to all people in California. You can see examples of our work in our Reports (Phase I Report, Understanding & Restoring Ocean Access For California's Tribal Communities), papers (more to come!), and in our students’ storymaps (about ADA access, grunions, and swimming) and blogs.
