Our Eco Hotel Series: The Surfrider, Malibu

Grab a Surfboard or a Picnic!

The Surfrider Hotel sits on the Malibu coast, right by a well-known surf spot. Guests can use surfboards, stand-up paddle boards, beach chairs, and umbrellas for free. This way, you can enjoy the outdoors without the hassle of bringing your own gear. They also provide beautiful plant-based picnics. Each picnic comes with a 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 The Surfrider Hotel 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 Wines!

Surfrider’s main wine importer is Biare Wines, a husband and wife team. They’ve created a wine list featuring organic and biodynamic wines. These wines come from California, Germany, and Austria. All winemakers are chosen for their strong commitment to quality and sustainability.

Sustainable Employee Uniforms!

All employee uniforms come from Outerknown. This is Kelly Slater’s clothing company. They follow fair trade practices and use natural dyes. 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. You can send in your SEA jeans and jean jacket for free repairs or new items. The damaged jeans will be recycled into new products like hats and bags.

Quarterly Surfrider Beach Cleanups!

The Surfrider Hotel hosts beach cleanups every quarter. They often team up with Gnarwhal Coffee Co. for these events. I recorded my podcast with Laird Hamilton and Susan Casey at the hotel. We talked a lot about how pollution harms our oceans. So, it’s wonderful to see local businesses trying to help and raise awareness!

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. They strive to cut down plastic waste on Earth, working independently and with partners. 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 stop plastic from reaching the ocean. They collect ocean-bound plastic waste from beaches, mangroves, and rivers. This collection is done via their network of third party global collection partners.

Read more about their impact, here.