One hundred percent of baby sea turtles tested in this region have been found to have plastic in their stomachs. One in three fish caught for human consumption contains plastic. Eighty-eight percent of the sea's surface is polluted by plastic waste. These are not distant statistics. They describe the water outside our door.

The Clean Wave (TCW) is a Costa Rican foundation that decided those numbers were unacceptable — and that the most effective response was to build a community in action, right here on the coast.

The Clean Wave runs the most active beach and underwater cleanup program on the Guanacaste coast. In 2023 alone they completed 121 beach cleanups and 12 underwater cleanups, removing nearly 8,000 kilograms of waste — recyclables, cigarette butts, plastics, boat parts, engines, and debris that had sunk to the ocean floor. Their cleanup operations now span 24 communities across Guanacaste and Puntarenas, from Tamarindo and Playa Grande to Nosara, Flamingo, El Coco, and as far as Tivives and Jacó on the central Pacific.

Their zero waste philosophy means collection is only the beginning. Recyclables are processed through the Municipality of Santa Cruz. Tragic plastics are sent to CRDC Global to be converted into RESIN8, a material used in structural concrete. Plastic lids collected from the beach were used to build a permanent beach cleanup station — now installed at Cala Luna Hotel in Langosta, Tamarindo — made entirely from 220 kilograms of reclaimed coastal plastic.

Beyond cleanups, The Clean Wave runs four active restoration programs. Their coral restoration project — in partnership with CIMAR (Center for Research in Marine Sciences and Limnology) and Culebra Reef Gardens — maintains three coral nurseries, conducting monthly events that have planted 120 coral fragments across seven structures. The data collected from each session contributes directly to scientific understanding of coral response to climate change.

Their reforestation program has planted over 800 native trees from a dedicated nursery, Vivero Bosque Azul, on municipal land in Santa Cruz. In collaboration with SalveMonos, they have installed howler monkey bridges throughout Tamarindo and Playa Grande — concrete responses to a documented crisis in which over 150 howler monkeys were electrocuted in the Tamarindo area in a single year. Wildlife scientific studies run alongside these projects, building the evidence base for future interventions.

The Clean Wave was founded by a group of IB students from Villarreal High School in 2017. That origin has never left them. Education and community participation are structural to how they operate — not add-ons. They run virtual talks, field trips, diving excursions, and citizen science programs that put volunteers directly in the water alongside marine biologists. Their bull shark monitoring program at Murcielago Islands brings small groups face-to-face with Guanacaste's pelagic wildlife in a structured, educational setting.

Volunteers come from across Costa Rica and internationally. In 2023, The Clean Wave engaged 2,330 volunteers including nine international interns from Germany, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Brazil, the United States, and Canada. Their model is explicitly cooperative rather than competitive — building alliances across municipalities, national parks, NGOs, government entities, and private companies to amplify what any one organization could achieve alone. In 2023 they also formally expanded to the United States, with cleanup events in Massachusetts.

Sol Gallery and TCW are neighbors in the most meaningful sense. Both are rooted in Tamarindo and Villareal. Both believe the coast is something worth protecting. And both understand that the most effective way to make that case is to bring a community into the room together.

The partnership is anchored by Rising Tides — an annual event that has become one of Sol Gallery's most anticipated evenings of the year. Live art, live performance, live music, and an art raffle, all in support of The Clean Wave's coastal protection work. 

What makes Rising Tides different from a standard fundraiser is the same thing that makes Sol Gallery different from a standard gallery: it is built around the experience of being in the room, not the transaction of what happens there.

Original works donated by Sol Gallery artists to the Rising Tides raffle go directly to the cause — their retail value representing both the generosity of the artists and the community's stake in the coastline that surrounds them.

Every piece below has been given to the coast. Works donated by Alex Starre to the Rising Tides raffle were outright gifts — their full retail value going directly to The Clean Wave. Works by other Sol Gallery artists were offered with their sale proceeds donated in full. The values shown reflect what each work is worth, and what this community chose to give.

The Clean Wave makes it easy to participate at whatever level fits your life. You can donate directly through their website, volunteer at a cleanup event, or sign up as a diving member if you want to go underwater and see firsthand what ends up on the ocean floor. Businesses and brands can formally partner with the foundation — their corporate partnership program is structured and active, with a growing list of Guanacaste companies already involved.

If you are visiting Tamarindo, their cleanup events run year-round and are genuinely open to anyone — no experience necessary, no commitment required. Show up, contribute, go home knowing the beach is cleaner than you found it. If you want to go deeper, the bull shark monitoring dives and marine bird field trips are extraordinary ways to spend a morning on this coast.

For those who want to give through art: Rising Tides happens annually at Sol Gallery. Keep an eye on our events calendar.