A surf instructor filed a federal lawsuit today in the Southern District of California that challenges a state law restricting teaching privileges on public beaches.
Helina Beck argues the state cannot force entrepreneurs to surrender their First Amendment rights as a condition for using state beaches.
“The government cannot grant exclusive privileges to favored surf instructors while prohibiting others from teaching on public beaches,” said Caleb Trotter, an attorney at the nonprofit Pacific Legal Foundation, which represents Beck. “California must provide clear criteria and fair processes for individuals and businesses who seek to teach on public beaches.”
Beck founded Wavehuggers LLC in 2013. Now it employs 12 instructors year-round and has taught more than 6,000 individuals how to surf. Her surf lessons involve educational and therapeutic instruction, she says, not merely commercial services.
But California’s Department of Parks and Recreation threatens to shut down Wavehuggers’ ability to teach on public beaches. The state has granted contracts to only two surf schools in the past 17 years.
The parks department enforces a regulation that prohibits "soliciting" on State Park beaches without a contract with the parks department. The rule bans Beck from selling surfing lessons on Carlsbad, South Carlsbad, and Cardiff State Beaches.
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Today, just one school holds a contract.
Wavehuggers LLC and Helina Beck v. Armando Quintero PLF Complaint 8.27.25 by scott.mcclallen
Since 2021, Beck has repeatedly sought a permit. She has been denied each time, without explanation. The regulations provide no criteria for obtaining contracts, no guidelines on how to evaluate applicants, no appeals process, and no timeline for decisions.
State parks officials control who gets to teach on public beaches.
In March 2025, State Parks sent Helina a cease-and-desist letter for allegedly teaching paid lessons without a permit. The letter invited her to contact the same officials who had repeatedly refused her requests.
The state’s actions violate the First Amendment by restricting Helina’s ability to communicate through instruction, demonstrations, and individualized guidance, the lawsuit says. The regulations also violate equal protection by creating arbitrary distinctions—instructors can teach large groups for free but need state contracts to teach even one person for payment.
Helina filed an 11-page lawsuit challenging California’s beach permit system. She argues that the state cannot gift exclusive teaching privileges to favored businesses while denying others the right to earn a living through constitutionally protected instruction on beaches that belong to all Californians.
Beck argues the state’s actions violate the First Amendment by restricting her ability to communicate through instruction and demonstration. The lawsuit claims that the rule also violate equal protection by creating arbitrary distinctions that allow instructors to teach large groups for free but require state contracts to teach for payment.
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