Our Eco Hotel Series: Surfrider, Malibu

Located on the Malibu coast overlooking a famous surf spot, Surfrider offers guests complimentary use of surfboards, stand up paddle boards, beach chairs and umbrellas so you are able to enjoy the outdoors without the hassle of bringing your own. They also offer gorgeous plant based picnics, complete with glass bottle and regenerative Flamingo Estate chocolate.

Plastic free policy -

It’s helpful and encouraging that the town of Malibu has actually passed a plastic free ordinance and shows the power of government when working proactively, but Surfrider has embraced this on their own. All water bottles are glass, all take away items (very little of which they give out) are compostable, and the amenities are refillable and nothing is single use.

Grown Alchemist Organic, Refillable products -

I have always been a big personal fan of Grown Alchemist, so seeing them as the beauty partner of Surfrider was amazing. This line is certified sustainable, cruelty free, vegan and reef friendly.

Locally sourced food -

They have Finabar chocolate bars in our minibar, which contain ethically sourced cacao. Their plastic is compostable and biodegradable and their wrappers are compostable native California wildflower seed packets. Optimist is their featured non-alcoholic spirit, they are a certified B corporation founded from right next door in Venice, CA. The menu is heavily plant based, with many vegan options as well. 

Biodynamic, local wine -

Their largest wine importer on property is a husband and wife duo, Biare Wines, who have curated Surfrider’s wine list with organic, biodynamic wines – both local to California and imported from Germany and Austria. All winemakers have been hand selected due to their overall unwavering commitment to quality and sustainability.

Sustainable fashion -

All of the employee’s uniforms are from Outerknown which is surfer Kelly’s Slater’s clothing company that abides by all fair trade practices, chemical free and naturally dyed, and their clothes are made in small local communities. For example their buttons are made out of nuts, not plastic from a small village in Peru. Their SEA jeans and jean jacket are able to be sent in for repair or new items free of cost, the damaged jeans will be recycled into new items such as hats and bags.

Beach Clean ups -

Surfrider also hosts quarterly beach cleanups, usually with their coffee partner, Gnarwhal coffee co. Having recorded my podcast with Laird Hamilton and Susan Casey at the hotel and speaking to them so much about human pollution destroying our oceans, it’s really great to see local businesses making efforts to help and create awareness in the process!

EV charging -

We took our Fisker EV to the Surfrider and were thrilled that they had on the spot charging. The charger is located right at reception, is free to use, and converts to work with any EV! It was such a nice feature to be able to charge our car on spot and I would so love to see more hotels making sure this option was available to guests.

What to pack: Solgaard -

Solgaard is a luggage and accessory brand independently and through partnerships working to reduce plastic waste on our planet. For every product sold, they clean up 6 lbs of ocean-bound plastic from coastal communities!

Solgaard use recycled, ocean-bound PET to make as much of their products as possible. The fabric made from ocean-bound plastic is called Shore-Tex®. The Durable Plastic is called Shore-Plast®. They prevent plastic from entering the ocean via beach, mangrove, and riverway ocean-bound plastic waste collections. This collection is done via their network of third party global collection partners.

Read more about their impact, here.