Bring Back Our Beaches (BBOB) started as an organization aimed at raising awareness of sand loss at San Clemente beaches, the factors behind it, and advocating for recurring sand replenishment. BBOB is now expanding its efforts to drive awareness and outcome for threatened beaches and surf spots globally.

Latest News & Stories:

Updates
Beach Sand: The Most Vital Rare Earth Mineral
Beach Sand: The Most Vital Rare Earth Mineral

The global scramble for high-quality sand — and what it means for the future of our coasts.

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Surfing Our Engineered Coasts
Surfing Our Engineered Coasts

Why the surf we love Is rarely left to nature.

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Anatomy of a SoCal Sand Crisis
Anatomy of a SoCal Sand Crisis

Beaches around San Clemente have been disappearing at an alarming rate. How did we get here — and what can be done?

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The Long Beach SuperBank
The Long Beach SuperBank

Once upon a time did Long Beach have its very own Superbank? While that call might be a bit of hyperbole, most folks have probably never heard of the glorious wave that once existed called “Flood Control.” Perhaps that’s because it only existed from the early 1920s to the mid 1940s, during surfing’s modern-day infancy really. So, how the hell did this wave come about—and how’d we lose it?

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Alright BBOBers...There is some minor movement on the sand front. The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) has begun the first sand placement as part of its Emergency Plan to protect the rail line. About 3,400 cubic yards of sand, sourced f
In Part 1 of What’s Up (Down South) we shared Oceanside’s 80-year struggle with sand loss. In Part 2, we’ll look at the city’s chosen path forward. Through the global RE:BEACH competition, Oceanside selected International Coa
For over 80 years, the coastal city of Oceanside has been fighting to hold onto its sand. Things originally went downhill when harbor construction cut off the natural sand supply, and then the San Luis Rey River’s sand flow got choked by upstre
Trestles to Hossegor, Mundaka to New Jersey; Waimea Bay to Waikiki—all of these coastlines (and the waves gracing them) have actually been shaped by human hands. Pardon? Yep. When rivers are rerouted, shorelines reshaped, inlets dredged, cha
It’s no secret that Newport’s got some big ‘ole beaches. Wide. Vast. Robust. But they weren’t always this healthy. Once upon a time, Newport’s natural sand pipeline was nearly cut off when the Santa Ana River was channe
There’s an old idiom everyone knows about unnecessarily adding something to a thing that’s already got it. Ya “don’t bring sand to the beach,” as they say, right? Thing is, many beaches these days actually DO need sand.
Believe it or not, the famous wide, sandy shoreline of Newport Beach isn’t a simple gift of Nature, but, rather, the product of 150 years of coastal engineering and intervention. Backing up a little, originally, the Santa Ana River carried hun
Beach nourishment in San Clemente can get confusing. The city has opportunistic sand replenishment projects (i.e. North Beach), and long-term ones, like the USACE’s 50-year plan to bring in sand every five years, if the funding ever comes toget