Save The Waves 2026

FILM SCREENINGS

Playa Saladita, Saturday, October 24, 7 pm, Restaurant Marea; festivities start at 6 pm

Ixtapa, Sunday, October 25, October 25, 7 pm. Plaza de la Zona Commercial, next to Catcha La Ola; festivities start at 5 pm

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SURFING CHANGES PEOPLE

Surfing is more than catching waves. It’s more than a lifestyle. It’s pure joy. It’s constant effort. It’s waiting, knowing something is coming, and getting in the right spot for it. It’s commitment. It’s community. It’s looking around and making sure others are safe. It’s curiosity.

Once you start surfing, you start following the weather, the tides and the wind more carefully. You become aware of the water in new ways. You get to know rocks, trees, mountains, roof tops, water tanks and antennas as guides. You see fish, dolphins, whales, stingrays, turtles, starfish and sea urchins close up. You notice floating plastic, storm runoff and beach erosion right away. All those things become important to you. There’s no separation between you and “it”—the place you are surfing—just like there’s no separation when you’re on the wave. You and it are the same thing. I digress. I’ve had all these experiences. And I’m not alone.

The organizers of Save The Waves also see surfing as more than riding a wave, and are calling attention to “surf ecosystems”—the specific surf place, its plants, its animals, its people—and have made protecting those surf ecosystems across the globe its primary mission. Currently, Save The Waves has secured environmental protection of 14 surf spots in 10 different countries, working with national governments and local grass-roots organizations to make sure no one is able to disrupt the waves at those locations. In Mexico, Save The Waves is running on-going projects in Baja California and in Oaxaca, documenting biodiversity at surf breaks and, as they describe it on their website, “combining legal protection of those ecosystems with sustainable community development”.

While that sounds heady, the organization has also found a way to connect to “fun”, the magic behind surfing, with an annual film festival, screening nonfiction and documentary films featuring surf and water sports, travel and adventure, conservation and climate. The wonder of surfing is something filmmakers have tried to capture ever since Robert Kates Bonine set up a camera for Thomas Edison in 1906 on Waikiki Beach [Honolulu, Hawaii], and something countless hi-tech drones try to do every day. Matter-of-fact storytelling around surfing comes much easier—in popular books like Barbarian Days and in legendary films like Endless Summer—that’s because surfing changes people. It shifts priorities on emotional, social and economic levels.

Last year, Save The Waves’ local screenings in Troncones, Saladita and Zihuatanejo brought in films from around the world—showing the challenges surfers face in Sri Lanka, Greenland, South Africa, the Unites States, the Azores and Mexico. This year, the films offer a similar experience as surfers from Ghana, Peru, Bali, Australia and Fuerteventura [the Canary Islands] share their waves. And, again, the focus is more than just take-offs and turns—the 17-minute Surf, Eat, Repeat follows a multi-cultural New York City surf crew as it chases its favorite foods, and the 15-minute Haagua features the lives of  Indigenous surfers from 13 tribal nations.

‍PROYECTO SALADITA HELPS

In each community selected to host its festival screenings, Save The Waves partners with a local non-profit which takes care of the logistics for each event. Proyecto Saladita, A.C., was chosen as this year’s festival partner for Saladita and Ixtapa, and its efforts are being led by managing director Viridiana (“Viri”) Delao Jasso.

In describing the partnership with Save The Waves, Viri said, “We reached out and said, ‘This is who we are. We focus on local conservation through different programs that involve the community, at every level.” Those local programs include placement and maintenance of recycling bins; promotion of sustainable tourism; environmental education in local schools; sea turtle conservation; community workshops and special film screenings. Proyecto Saladita has also ventured into filmmaking, sponsoring the development of La Voz en El Mar, a six-minute film which won The Viewers’ Choice Award at the 2026 Mexico Surf Film Festival.

La Voz en El Mar features Saladita surfers and Saladita scenes, on land and in the ocean, with an ecologically-focused storyline narrated by Proyecto’s Ilianet Nuñez Valdovinos, a renowned master/dancer of the Saladita break. The film made its debut in Troncones last March, and is still being screened by surf and ecology advocates, most recently as part of Plastic Oceans’ Trees and Seas streaming and in-person platforms. It’s never been shown in Saladita. That will change on Saturday.

Viri explained, “When you’re submitting to different festivals, you’re not supposed to share it anywhere else. So, we’ve held La Voz en El Mar back until now. We’re very excited to show it in our own community. Save The Waves is allowing us to do that even though our film is not part of their festival. It’s a special treat for everyone who comes out to the event—in Saladita and in Ixtapa.”

Marea Restaurant on Playa Saladita is the location of Saturday’s festivities, starting at 6 pm, with Catcha La Ola at Plaza de la Zona Commercial in Ixtapa providing a place for Sunday’s event, starting at 5 pm. In both locations, Viri is planning music and workshops before the screenings. She’s also bringing together an in-the-water surf experience that she describes as, “A little surf, a little bit of lunch and a lot of fun. We’re still working out all the details, and those will be posted on our site a few days before the screenings. We’re also working on gathering items for a silent auction and for raffles, to raise money for our work in the community.”

Viri added, “I feel like Save The Waves did a little bit of research about us, and saw how well our missions complement each other. Both organizations see these screenings as an opportunity to connect with people about conservation, through films and through surf, so we all can be more aware of why it’s so important to protect the ocean. It can’t speak for itself.”

‍LINKS

Save The Waves: https://www.savethewaves.org/

Proyecto Saladita: https://proyectosaladita.org/

Ilianet Nuñez Valdovinos: https://www.laondatroncones.com/meet/ilianet-nunez-valdovinos-surfing-queen

More on Proyecto Saladita: https://www.laondatroncones.com/know/proyecto-saladita