2012 Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawai‘i“The view of the mass swim start of 2,000 triathletes from my position hanging out the door of a helicopter. This is a moment in time you don’t get to see anymore—they now send the athletes out in waves instead of all at once.”
Donald Miralle just returned from the LA Marathon, where he and his team of assistant photographers captured the annual siege: nearly 40,000 athletes methodically descending on the city. From the Dodger Stadium starting line, where Miralle hovered above the crowd at dawn on a cherry picker, to the finish line at the Avenue of the Stars. After capturing the thrill of the start—80,000 legs suddenly in motion—they hopped on motorcycles to zip around the city and capture key moments of the entire 26.2-mile course. His wife, Lauren, and their two sons are happy to have him back on solid ground at their Leucadia home, but they know it won’t be long before the award-winning photographer takes off on his next adventure.
By Jet Ski, helicopter, or his own two feet, Miralle has gone far afield to capture the world’s most prolific athletes (Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal in the early 2000s, all the gold medal events for Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps), the largest events (the Super Bowl, the Summer and Winter Olympics), and the most remote locations, like cave diving isolated cenotes in Tulum.
“The moment I get on a scene, I take the camera away from my face and look around, absorb what’s around me,” says Miralle. “When your face is in the scamera, you miss out on a lot of things. I step back, watch the scene unfold, see the bigger picture.”
From the alternate realities just below the surface in the Yucatán Peninsula to the highest bike race on earth in Nepal, Miralle’s massive portfolio is a visual love letter to the great outdoors. His anything-for-the-shot approach has landed his work in The New York Times and Sports Illustrated, and earned him over 50 international awards, including six from the World Press Photo Foundation and seven from the Pictures of the Year International Competition for Sports Photographer of the Year. For our annual outdoors issue, Miralle shares some of his greatest adventure shots of all time. — Erica Nichols
Donald Miralle – Tokyo Olympic diver
Team China in the men’s synchronized 10-meter platform diving at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics
“This is such an insane sport, where divers have to be in perfect synchronization. This photo captures that dynamic, multiple-exposure movement showing the spins and dives they’re doing.”
Donald Miralle – Tokyo Olympics swimmer
Caeleb Dressel: Men’s 100-meter butterfly at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics
“Dressel is one of the most powerful swimmers on the planet. I sat with a really long 600 millimeter lens prefocused to the spot where I predicted he’d come up and captured him bursting out of the water, on his way to get the gold medal.”
Donald Miralle – swimmer
Swimming Team Free Final in the 2019 FINA World Championships
“The moment Team Russia enters the water, where the water is still really calm—I flipped the photo so their reflection at the bottom of the pool is mirrored. I had to really envision what I wanted way before the moment came here. The camera is static, situated in an underwater box that’s weighted down in the pool with about 200 feet of cable running out of the pool and onto the pool deck, where I fired the shot with a remote control.”
Donald Miralle – Chumbo surfing
Professional surfer Lucas “Chumbo” Chianca at Mavericks in Half Moon Bay, 2017
“The California coast was hit by a massive swell, where the conditions were projecting waves from 35 to 50 feet for several days. I was positioned on a Jet Ski, capturing Chianca dropping in and outrunning this avalanche of water.”
“Shot for Sports Illustrated. I hung out of a helicopter to capture this cool, graphic view of the spectators along the pier and the turbulence in the water as the surfer paddles out.”
Donald Miralle – Carlsbad bioluminescence
Bioluminescent waves beneath a full moon in Carlsbad, 2020
“Amid COVID, we were treated to bioluminescence and a full moon. With a couple of friends, we went out to a secret spot at night. It was a stealth mission of them paddling out into the water, myself waiting in the dark to watch them get a wave. Magical.”
Donald Miralle – Reef sharks
Blacktip reef sharks in Bora Bora, 2016
“I was out in Tahiti competing in an open-water race. On my day off, I spent the morning swimming with these blacktip reef sharks and was able to appreciate the beauty of the pristine water there—it’s crystal clear, with a beautiful ecosystem.”
Donald Miralle – Fish and coral reef
Fish moving among a coral reef in Bermuda, 2018
“On my last day of a work trip for Condé Nast, I took a boat out to a reef and free dived about 30 feet down, capturing this cool, pretty sea fan and the fish moving all around it.”
Donald Miralle – Swimmers and turtle
2016 Ironman Triathlon World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawai‘i
“I found myself at the bottom of the bay, at six a.m., as nearly 2,000 athletes waited in the water above me for the signal to start. There was this anticipation in the air when I saw this green honu [sea turtle] swim by my lens. I almost couldn’t believe it. It’s one of my more famous photos in sports and captures the mana [soul] of the event and of the Hawaiian Islands.”
Every year, when winter swells bring San Diego’s best waves to their fullest potential, local surfers flood the lineups of popular spots like Black’s and Swami’s. But some of the heaviest and most dangerous surf lies further south, off the coast of Imperial Beach. The area’s crown jewel, Tijuana Sloughs, sometimes serves up 20-plus-foot waves that break up to a half-mile from shore.
Even as the surfing population has exploded, however, IB remains empty in comparison to the rest of San Diego, thanks to the pollution that plagues its waters. Surfers in IB don’t just check the surf cams and swell forecasts—they monitor the water data from the nearby International Boundary and Water Commission.
“It’s almost a science to go out for a surf and not get sick,” says resident Dwayne Fernandez. “My wife hates that I still surf here; she gets worried. I check the reports every day to see if it’s safe, which has been rare these days. If it’s not, I may have to drive over an hour just to get in the ocean—and I live minutes from the beach in IB.”
Photo Credit: Ariana Drehsler Dwayne Fernandez says his wife hates that he still surfs in IB. He lives near the beach but often must drive more than an hour to surf where water conditions are safer.
According to the Surfrider Foundation, IB has the unfortunate distinction of being the most polluted beach in America. Built in 1996 with the capacity to manage 25 million gallons of wastewater a day, the nearby South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant (SBIWTP) is frequently overwhelmed. Anything that exceeds the limits of the SBIWTP comes out as raw sewage, clearly visible in the water as a dark brown plume with an accompanying nasty smell.
The sewage flow can sometimes hit hundreds of millions of gallons in a single day. “You don’t want to be out there when that happens, and it can happen quickly,” says Adam Wraight, an Imperial Beach lifeguard sergeant, junior lifeguard coordinator, and longtime local surfer.
Courtesy of Surfrider Foundation
But that hasn’t stopped some residents, despite mandates prohibiting surfing and swimming during beach closures. If the waves are good, surfers are probably out there. Why take the chance, though, when there are so many other good waves—with cleaner water—in the county?
It’s partly a point of local pride. The surf history in IB runs deep. Stories of the Tijuana Sloughs on its good days are the stuff of legend, discussed in hushed tones in the core San Diego surf community.
Photo Credit: Kevin Stuart Former lifeguard and IB resident Jeff Knox braves toxic conditions to surf his local waves.
“The Sloughs was never a spot meant for everyone,” says Jeff Knox, a former lifeguard and lifelong IB surfer. “The paddle-out alone was enough of a deterrent for most. The shorebreak took care of the rest. It’s mostly locals out there; we like it that way. It’s one of the best waves around and, for that very reason, we never used to talk about it. But those days are long gone. We need all the help we can get—the more attention, the better. Because this is a huge problem.”
It’s also been part of the deal for decades. “I started surfing IB in the ’60s, [and] we’ve always had to deal with pollution,” Knox adds. “Throughout my entire life, it’s never been as bad as the last 10 years. The last five have been absolutely terrible.”
Additionally, there’s the simple fact of convenience. While IB’s median rent cost of $3,000 is well under the staggering housing costs in other surf-adjacent ’hoods like Encinitas and Del Mar, locals still pay a pretty penny to live a few blocks from the beach. And they often pay a price for surfing there.
Photo Credit: Jeff Knox Imperial Beach is considered the most polluted beach in the United States, with dangerous levels of bacteria caused by millions of gallons of raw sewage regularly flowing directly into the sea.
Scientists have identified 175 toxic pollutants in IB’s waters. Surfers have contracted everything from diarrhea and bacterial infections like MRSA to neurological disorders and hepatitis A.
“As a lifeguard, I see all the data. I check the flows daily and monitor the testing just to see if I can go for a surf during my break or after work. There are plenty of people who don’t check anything—they just see waves and go out—but even they get spooked when they hit the water and everything feels and smells wrong,” Wraight says. “Our responsibilities are definitely different from other [lifeguard] stations and, unfortunately, so much of what we do revolves around the pollution. It can get pretty negative, and it takes a toll on morale and recruitment.”
The problem has driven some local diehards from the water completely. Ramon Chairez, an activist and educator with the nonprofit Un Mar de Colores, has lived in IB for decades, but in 2020, he “made a conscious decision to stop surfing IB,” he says. “I saw too many people around me getting sick. It wasn’t worth it. The last five to 10 years have really been pivotal in the consciousness of the population, especially the kids—they know it’s polluted and unsafe.”
As a junior lifeguard coordinator, Wraight once trained the next generation in IB. But, now, he and the local kids he works with must travel to other beaches in the county. YMCA’s Camp Surf, a program that attracts children and teens from all over the nation with the allure of learning to surf in San Diego, can no longer take participants into the area’s waters.
Photo Credit: Ariana Drehsler
They must head to other neighborhoods or stick to land-based activities. “The biggest tragedy is the youth,” Wraight says. “They’re growing up not being able to enjoy the ocean like we did—their whole life experience is affected by the pollution.”
Despite the toxic water, IB still feels like a classic beach town, a callback to a time before $8 lattes and luxury condos dominated the coast. It’s charming, quaint, and beautiful, with the open space of the Tijuana Estuary to the south, mountains in the distance, and the mighty Pacific to the west. It has one of the most unique coastal views of all of San Diego—and some of its best waves. If only you could safely surf them.
Chris Dodds has been falling in love with San Diego for the past 10 years. He's passionate about the protection and preservation of our natural areas, especially our coastline and waterways.
The bike shop sits on a popular commute route and is staffed by affable mechanics who have worked the Tour de France. Hardcore bicycle people don’t have the friendliest rep, but MJ’s is different. They’ve got the skill set to equip racers, but they don’t treat commuters or parents buying bikes like tourists in their world.
Way to Become the Pickleball
PB Tennis Club
One minute you’re casually playing a game of pickleball, the next thing you know, you’ve helped design Gearbox’s newest paddle. The brand is based in San Diego and PBTC is their local court, where they play with locals to gain insights on how to improve their rackets. This sounds like free lessons to us.
Boujee Boat Picnic
Picnic Voyage
When a relative was giving away their boat, local architect Vilchis saw an opportunity to design a 10/10 Instagrammable experience. Now you can class up your day date by recreating The Notebook—a pristinely refurbished tiny boat with padded seats, plant garlands, snacks and drinks, and even parasols. Ryan Gosling not included.
Beach Volleyball Where Everyone Knows Your Name
South Mission
Each weekend on the courts of South Mission Beach, the sand is taken over by 2v2 players—many of which are ESL speakers from various countries. They’ve made this plot of sand their sacred community, where the universal language is bump, set, and spike.
Running Shop That Doubles as Bumble BFF
Milestone Run Club
On any given Wednesday on Hamilton Ave., 100 to 200 runners gather to run the streets of North Park. It’s put on by Milestone Running, a shop created by locals Greg Lemon and Chad Crawford. Go a few times and you’re pretty much guaranteed at least ten new friends—might even get “Smirnoff Iced” during the post-run raffle. You win some, you lose some.
Reward-Based Running
Waterfront Social Run Club
Even avid runners can lose motivation. This year, Waterfront introduced a new tradition: beer stops. The three- mile loop starts at Eppig Brewing in Point Loma, then heads to Fathom Bistro for a beer before completing the next 1.5 miles. Finish up with a post-run brew at Eppig, obviously.
Mission Bay Basketball Court
Madeline Yang
Sailing Lessons by Jack Sparrow Himself
Harbor Sailboats
San Diego’s maritime history runs deep. America’s Cups have a permanent home here. Harbor Sailboats—seven-time winner of the “ASA School of the Year”—offers sailing courses taught by longtime sea dogs. You know, the type of no- nonsense skippers who know how the wind will change by the way the breeze hits their beard hair.
Hikes in Real Nature
Palomar Mountain
If you want sky-high firs, oak forests that shade your path, and mountain peaks that overlook actual foliage (read: no palm tree in sight), head to Palomar Mountain State Park. And, since the inaugural California State Parks Week took place this year, there’s no better time to dust off your hiking boots on one of the six hiking trails (five for running).
An Apparently Easy Climb That’s a Lie
Mission Gorge
A mellow 5.7 climb on paper, The Tower at Mission Gorge will have you clipping the first few bolts like you’ve been dirtbagging in Yosemite all your life. You’ll have to dig deep into your courage reserves to tackle the crux, but you’ll be walking down that mountain with your head held high when the sun starts to set.
Floor Exercise
Mission Bay Basketball Court
Hoops here have always had a magical effect—a full regulation court, smack dab on the beach. The ball smells like sunscreen. No fence; out of bounds is in the sand. And it just got an artful resurfacing in honor of local basketball legend, Bill Walton—who’s been a member of the South Mission Beach Sports Park & Rec for 25 years.
Best Surf Shop Nowhere Near Water
Happy Battle Surf Co.
Yep, in City Heights. Specializing in boards from local shapers, owner Mark Polintan (who grew up on a pineapple farm in the Philippines) has created an infectious gathering place for surfers to support their peers. Like chasing tubes in exotic locations, you never know what or who you’ll find here, but you’re guaranteed to leave stoked.
Best Way to Justify Surfing All Day to Your Family
100 Wave Challenge
Surfers are selfish. No matter how many waves we catch, we always want more. And while there’s no shot we’ll ever change, we can at least direct that impulse toward a good cause. At the annual 100 Wave Challenge, participants commit to riding 100 waves in one day to raise funds for the local nonprofit Boys to Men Mentoring.
Nicolle Monico is an award-winning writer and the director of creative projects, digital editor for San Diego Magazine with more than 19 years of experience in media including Outside Run, JustLuxe and The San Francisco Chronicle.
We Hit the Trails with 6 of San Diego’s A-List Adventurers
From Lake Hodges to Mount Laguna, follow these top athletes as they push the limits of their soul-stirring pursuits
Todd Glaser
By Erica Nichols, Gillian Flynn
Jussi Oksanen, retired Finnish snowboarder-turned-cyclist, scouts locations by bike for commercial lifestyle photography campaigns.
Todd Glaser
They’ve explored the world through their lenses. One is a former pro snowboarder from Finland. The other has claimed his own title as Kelly Slater’s trusted photographer. Together for this issue, Jussi Oksanen and Todd Glaser set their cameras on each other at their respective playgrounds: Oksanen hits the bike trails at Lake Hodges while Glaser and his wife, Jenna Klein, maneuver a switchback at Black’s Beach. The photographer’s world in San Diego proves limitless.
Jussi Oksanen
San Diego Trails – Jussi Oksanen
Todd Glaser
Jussi Oksanen never runs out of locations. Ever. The retired Finnish snowboarder-turned-cyclist brings his off-piste adventure to his photography career, exploring San Diego’s untamed corners to shoot lifestyle campaigns for Specialized bikes, Volkswagen, Kashi, and Fat Tire. With a sixth sense for light and topography, he scouts locations by bike, breezing through Borrego, Mount Laguna, Mount Israel, and his nirvana, Lake Hodges.
“If someone would have told me I’d be wearing more spandex than normal clothes, I’d say no f—ing way,” laughs Oksanen.
An overhead shot of lush Mount Laguna
Jussi Oksanen
Cyclists pausing at a mountain pasture
Jussi Oksanen
The craggy cliffs of Anza-Borrego
Jussi Oksanen
After an 18-year snowboarding career that spanned the Olympics, X Games, and US Open, Oksanen cofounded Mizu, which makes insulated water bottles, back in 2008. Here in San Diego, he tapped into a long-standing love of photography to tell brand stories with a stirring sense of adventure and place.
San Diego Trails – Jussi at sunset
“There are areas here like Mount Laguna and Mount Cuyamaca where you feel like you are in the Sierra Mountains,” he says.
Iman Wilkerson
Runner Iman Wilkerson likes to wind down her runs with a listen to Duke Ellington and John Coltrane’s “In a Sentimental Mood.”
Jussi Oksanen
For Iman Wilkerson, every run starts on instinct and ends with Coltrane. As the early morning fog lifts, the marathon runner and Lululemon ambassador winds down at Mission Trails or Mount Laguna’s Noble Canyon Trail. Each time, “In a Sentimental Mood” soundtracks her transition from runner to community creator at The Run Down, the app she cofounded in 2019.
The Run Down builds a tight-knit band of runners across six major US cities (San Diego and LA were first) by linking them with nearby running groups, races, and resources. There are amateurs prepping for their first 5K and seasoned pros gearing up for their next marathon (Wilkerson has completed Boston and NYC twice). From her post in University Heights, Wilkerson is reshaping a sport of solitude into an amoeba of runners across all ages, genders, body types, and experience levels.
“The more we’re connected, the more collaboration—you see people running together that you never thought you’d see,” she says. “It’s really cool to be able to have that kind of synergy.”
And it all starts on a path—gravel, dirt, concrete, whatever’s in front of her—where she says moving one’s feet quickly turns into liberation in motion.
Shelby Stanger
Wild Ideas Worth Living podcast host Shelby Stanger on a barefoot beach run in La Jolla
Todd Glaser
Consider her the audio equivalent of a starter gun. When host Shelby Stanger takes to the mic on her Wild Ideas Worth Living podcast, listeners can’t help but foist themselves from their couches and step outside. We’re not talking triathlon training. Or even a hike up Iron Mountain.
The Solana Beach–based journalist advocates that the smallest dose of adventure goes a long way. Her casual interview style—combined with her vulnerability in sharing her own struggles, triumphs, and even vitiligo—lends the show a convincingly fresh voice of courage. “I’m a pretty open book,” says Stanger, “which helps most guests cut through small talk to the stuff that matters most.”
Since 2016, Wild Ideas has evolved into a safe place where she’s interviewed accidental heroes alongside heavyweights like Wim “The Iceman” Hof, Wild’s Cheryl Strayed, and Free Solo rock climber Alex Honnold. It’s no wonder REI has her booked ad infinitum: This season, listen up for Erin Parisi, the first trans woman to attempt the Seven Summits; Eddie Taylor, part of the first all-Black team to attempt Everest later this year; and Rick Stanton, one of the cave divers who helped rescue the Thai soccer team in 2018. When she’s not recording, you might catch her moonlighting with her friends from Surf Diva, where she’s taught surfing since she was 16, consulting with brands to create their own podcasts, or barefoot beach running from Cardiff to La Jolla.
Lesford Duncan
Long-distance runner Lesford Duncan begins each adventure with the mantra, “It’s going to be a long day”
Eh Ler Tha
He took Mount Whitney first. Then Mount Everest Base Camp, Kilimanjaro, the Tour du Mont Blanc. Lesford Duncan has seen the world from its most impressive peaks. This spring his eyes are set on the San Diego 100, a single-track mountain course spanning the Pacific Crest, Noble Canyon, and Lake Cuyamaca trails, with 26,000 feet of total elevation change and an average run time of 32 hours.
It’ll be the first 100-miler for Duncan, a 34-year-old ultramarathon runner and associate executive director of Outdoor Outreach, a nonprofit that connects San Diego youth to the transformative powers of the outdoors. For him, it’s a run-work balance. He averages 50–70 miles a week around central San Diego with groups like Black Men Run SD, or goes solo on his most-loved trails, like the Stonewall Peak loop in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park.
“I want to make the outdoors more inclusive,” he says. “A part of that is expanding the outdoors beyond competitive feats—to be in this space just to enjoy it.”
It’s not a time game for Duncan so much as an act of personal resilience. He starts with his mantra—“It’s going to be a long day”—and slowly, steadily embraces that until he finds himself at the finish line. “Running long distance is both mental work and complete joy,” he says. “It’s knowing you can put your body through this and somehow feel more alive than you ever have before.”
Todd Glaser
Kelly Slater’s personal photographer Todd Glaser and his partner Jenna Klein, a competitive cyclist, before catching some waves.
Jussi Oksanen
“Kelly makes the waves look good,” says Todd Glaser. It’s an understatement, from the humblest photographer on the planet. It takes his wife and fellow adventurer, Jenna Klein, to brag on his behalf. For 15 years, the San Diego–born surfer and waterman has served as Kelly Slater’s personal shooter. “I’m super fortunate to see some of the best waves in the world on the best days,” he says.
San Diego Trails – Glaser cliffs
Jussi Oksanen
Guided by swells, Glaser’s itinerary is intense. In the last few weeks alone, he’s traveled to Tahiti and twice to Hawai‘i, including the Pipe Masters, where Slater won the title (at age 50, cementing his superhuman status). But his home turf in North County is where he adventures with his most trusted partner, Klein, a competitive cyclist. There’s camping in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, pilgrimages to Iron Mountain with headlamps, and wild bike trips through Catalina’s backcountry. “I try my absolute hardest to pass her,” he says with a smirk.
San Diego Trails – Epic surf
Glaser’s work has appeared in the New York Times, Outside, and at the Smithsonian; he’s got a book under his belt and a second planned for the Slater oeuvre.
“I want to make images that define that feeling of surfing,” he says. “Their journeys reflect our journeys.”
Entrepreneurs typically launch businesses because they’re passionate about a product or service, not because they want to manage its finances. While working to carve out a niche in their respective industries and drive their companies forward, many business owners find themselves bogged down by day-to-day accounting. Their existing accounting tools don’t provide the necessary visibility or insight, and they don’t have the time or resources to hire additional staff or a chief financial officer. That’s where NOW CFO comes in.
For more than 20 years, NOW CFO has been pairing businesses across the country with experienced accounting and finance professionals. Its outsourced model allows clients to customize solutions that match their individual needs, size, and financial challenges, whether that’s fractional or interim support, project-based services, or full-time placement.
NOW CFO’s clients range from startups preparing for rapid growth to established companies that need additional financial leadership without the commitment or expense of building an in-house team. However, many of these companies don’t fully understand their needs until they experience a “trigger” event: preparing for an acquisition or capital raise, navigating a first-time audit, or another period of transition. With a team of over 300 consultants nationwide, NOW CFO can start quickly and match the right expert to the right business.
“It’s important for companies to have financial visibility, and we can help them avoid a lot of the potholes that companies often run into,” says Mariah Block, a partner at NOW CFO’s San Diego branch. “Roughly half of our clients have an in-house finance person or department, and we’re resourced for more bandwidth when they need an extra set of hands at the staff or senior accountant level, or the controller or CFO level. Some clients use this a few hours a month and others use multiple people close to full-time. Our model is solution-based and customizable. We’re like a faucet you can turn on and off.”
With NOW CFO, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. Solutions are based on the client’s individual goals, challenges, needs, and budget, meaning a client never pays for more than they need. Whether it’s a few hours of executive-level guidance or a full accounting team to support daily operations, NOW CFO meets businesses where they are and grows alongside them.
“We pride ourselves on providing our clients with the right resources at the right rate and being able to evolve as their needs evolve,” says Block.
And clients appreciate on-demand access to cost-effective support designed to improve performance and profitability.
Luxury car storage service Auto Concierge has partnered with NOW CFO to support growth over the past year. The arrangement began with a staff accountant who covered a leave of absence, but as the client’s needs changed, they also added a controller role. This allowed Auto Concierge to put effective processes in place and navigate operational challenges. Lori Church, Auto Concierge’s chief operating officer, says NOW CFO has been an “outstanding resource” and a “true strategic partner.”
“From the controller to the bookkeeper, every professional they’ve placed has brought a high level of expertise, responsiveness, and professionalism to our organization. Their team took the time to understand our business of high-profile clients and needs, adapted quickly to our fast-paced environment, and became a trusted extension of our team,” she says. “As Auto Concierge continues to grow, having a reliable financial partner like NOW CFO has allowed us to strengthen our financial and business operations while remaining focused on delivering exceptional service to our clients.”
It’s pure dogged determination at the ninth annual Surf Dog Competition, hosted by Unleashed by Petco. On July 13 in Imperial Beach, dogs will compete in four different categories: small dogs, medium dogs, large dogs, and tandem. Will four-time small dog champ Abbie Girl take home gold? What about Tillman the bulldog, who was last year’s large dog winner and now has his own TV show on the Hallmark Channel? Right now, it’s anyone’s game.
For the noncompetitive dog, there’s an off-leash play area, agility course, and treats galore. Humans can enjoy a beer garden, kids’ area, food trucks, and dog adoptions. Proceeds benefit the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
It’s pure dogged determination at the ninth annual Surf Dog Competition, hosted by Unleashed by Petco. On July 13 in Imperial Beach, dogs will compete in four different categories: small dogs, medium dogs, large dogs, and tandem. Will four-time small dog champ Abbie Girl take home gold? What about Tillman the bulldog, who was last year’s large dog winner and now has his own TV show on the Hallmark Channel? Right now, it’s anyone’s game.
For the noncompetitive dog, there’s an off-leash play area, agility course, and treats galore. Humans can enjoy a beer garden, kids’ area, food trucks, and dog adoptions. Proceeds benefit the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
If you’re anything like us, it can be easy to get so caught up in taking care of everyone else, that your own needs get lost in the ether. But while this may be a cliché, that doesn’t make it any less true: You can’t give your best self to other people unless you’re taking care of yourself.
Sometimes, that looks like stopping in for your regular acupuncture or chiropractic appointment. Other days, it means giving your body the fresh, organic fuel it needs to truly feel and function at its best. And some other times still, it involves leaving your responsibilities behind for a weekend to pamper yourself at an incredible resort and spa.
Only you can decide what your truly need. We’re just here to help you find the best ways to get it.
Tommy Bahama Miramonte Resort & Spa
Island living meets desert luxury at the Tommy Bahama Miramonte Resort & Spa in Indian Wells. When you step onto the 11-acre property, you’ll be surrounded by sweeping view of the Santa Rosa Mountains with olive trees and fragrant citrus groves decorating the grounds. In other words, everything about this relaxed but refined resort is primed to help you let go of the stress from home and enjoy easy sun-soaked days and gorgeous starry nights.
The rooms blend calming, woven textures with Tommy Bahama’s signature tropical prints and feature private lanais, making it easy unwind the moment you walk in the door. If you book one of the four Villa Suites, you’ll be treated to exclusive Tommy Bahama furniture and unique personal touches to further that feeling of instant ease.
At the award-winning Spa Rosa, the expert team will help reset and recharge your body and mind using methods and rituals inspired by the desert. The 12,000-square-foot retreat includes outdoor soaking pools, eucalyptus steam rooms, and outdoor cabanas, as well as massages, facials, and body masks—all aimed at creating a day dedicated to you. We’re particularly partial to the Day Long Escape, an indulgent all-day affair of CDBs soaks, renewing scrubs, life changing massages, and transformative facials.
Following your treatment, continue the experience with a meal on the patio at Grapefruit Basil. We love the Hamachi Crudo, a light, citrus-forward dish featuring premium yellowtail, house-made ponzu, creamy avocado, and fresh seasonal garnishes.
Whether you’re strolling the gardens, relaxing beside its saltwater pools, or indulging in a restorative treatment, you’ll be able to escape in style and relax in luxury at the Tommy Bahama Miramonte Resort & Spa.
Healcove Chiropractic
There’s no shortage of ways to stay active in San Diego—but if you really want to enjoy everything the city has to offer, you’ve got to make sure you’re giving your body its tune-ups. Enter: Healcove Chiropractic. The board-certified chiropractors and wellness professionals at Healcove are experts at addressing that stage where you’re not injured, exactly, but you’re not at 100%, either. Maybe you’re feeling a bit tense or stressed out. Or it could be that you’re not quite moving the way you want to. Sometimes, it’s just that the accumulation of days, weeks, or even years of daily strain is starting to take a toll. No matter what stage you find yourself at, the Healcove Chiropractic team can provide integrated, preventative care centered on long-term, science-backed approaches that ensure you can always stay active and live the life you want to live pain-free.
This starts by providing truly individualized care. Every patient can expect a thorough 60-minute consultation session that includes a posture and movement screening. This allows the team to develop a completely personalized plan. That plan might include chiropractic care, acupuncture, or massage therapy, as well as functional fitness training, vibration and sound therapy, and Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization, a clinical rehabilitation method that retrains the body’s stabilization systems. Whatever the team recommends, you can be sure that it’s tailored to meeting your body’s needs today and the future.
There’s a reason that San Diego Magazine named Healcove the “Best Chiropractor in San Diego”—don’t wait until you’re struggling with an injury to find out why. Book an appointment today for holistic, integrated care that helps ground and heal your body before it reaches a crisis point.
Juice Holler
West Coast wellness culture meets the community feel of Southern Appalachia at Juice Holler. Juice Holler’s menu consists of made-to-order smoothies and smoothie bowls, as well as grab-and-go cold-pressed juices, wellness shots, salads, and more. It operates from the blissfully simple premise that fueling up with food and drink that’s guilt-free and good your body should be simple, accessible, and, above all else, delicious. And if you haven’t yet made it out to the Encinitas café, which opened just this year, let us be the first to tell you: Juice Holler delivers on each and every of these fronts.
We love the Supercharger smoothie, a mood-lifting and body-fueling option made with banana, almond butter, blue spirulina, maca, grass-fed whey protein, raw cacao nibs, medjool dates, and coconut milk. We’re also partial to the Thrive Alive smoothie bowl, where avocado, mango, sea moss, spirulina, mint, coconut milk, and agave are mixed and topped with coconut, chia seeds, strawberry, mango, and chocolate drizzle. The wellness shots include the Detoxifier, a cleansing blend of kale, cucumber, lemon and spirulina, plus a shot specially designed to fight inflammation (named, fittingly, Anti-Inflammation). Probiotic overnight oats, lemon turmeric bars, and strawberry shortcake chia pudding are other standouts on the grab-and-go menu.
Much of the vibe feels beachy North County chic—think green tile with orange and pink accents, grounded with greenery and natural wood—but Juice Holler founder Kelly Sergott, a longtime Encinitas local, has also enfused the space with her Kentucky roots. In Appalachia, a holler is small valley between hills and mountains, where nature reigns, community is king, and nourishment comes right from the land. At Juice Holler, Sergott has created a holler for the busy modern times, using local ingredients to create a spot for people to come together and enjoy fresh, fast, feel-good fuel for their day.
Everwell Acupuncture
We’ve all had that experience with a medical professional where we’ve felt rushed, ignored, or misunderstood—and ultimately, like we didn’t get the answers that we needed. But at Everwell, the holistic acupuncture practice located in Solana Beach, the care team wants to transform your understanding of what healthcare can look like.
Patients at Everwell experience care rooted in intentional listening and radical empathy—and trust us, those aren’t just corporate buzzwords. This place actually puts those ideas into practice. You will always be given the time you need to tell your story— initial in-take appointments are two hours long—and you can rest assured that your story will be believed. Every single question and concern will be addressed by a dedicated practitioner who wants to find the specific solutions that work best for you, and you’ll receive care that’s aimed at healing the body, mind, and spirit.
Everwell’s highly trained, doctorate-level practitioners blend evidence-based acupuncture with the practice of classical Chinese medicine. (If you’ve never tried acupuncture before or aren’t sure if the team will be a fit, we’d highly recommended Everwell’s complimentary 20-minute consultations.) Research shows that by stimulating specific points on the body, acupuncture activates a natural healing response in the body, helping to restore balance, regulate the nervous system, and improve overall wellbeing. This allows the practice to address an incredibly wide range of conditions from chronic pain and autoimmune disorders to digestive issues, from stress and burnout to headaches migraines, fertility and postpartum struggles, hormonal imbalances, sleep concerns and more.
At Everwell, you can expect to feel heard, trusted, respected, and cared for. This is a space that doesn’t want to be just another healthcare provider you visit; it wants to provide patients with dedicated partner who will be there for their entire health journey.
