A wheelchair user's advocacy two years ago led Sunny Isles Beach to host its second annual Adaptive Beach Day on Aug. 11 at Samson Oceanfront Park, 17425 Collins Ave

The city partnered again with Surfers Healing, a nonprofit founded in 1996 that offers free adaptive surf camps for people with autism and other disabilities. Volunteers used surfboards to gently guide participants into the ocean at their own comfort level, according to a city account published by Vice Mayor Jeniffer Viscarra.

Participants included people with physical disabilities, children on the autism spectrum and older adults no longer comfortable entering the water alone.

Viscarra traced the program's origin to a resident named Katherine, who uses a wheelchair. About two years ago, Katherine met with members of the Sunny Isles Beach City Commission to describe the barriers she faced on the beach. That conversation prompted Viscarra to work with the city's chief of staff to explore how residents with disabilities experience the oceanfront.

The result was the inaugural Adaptive Beach Day on Aug. 7, 2025. Surfers Healing instructors worked with participants ranging in age from 4 to 74, according to the city's September 2025 Islander newsletter. The organization was founded by pro surfer Israel "Izzy" Paskowitz after he discovered that surfing helped him bond with his son Isaiah, who has autism.

Viscarra, who served as vice mayor during part of her tenure on the commission, described the scene in that newsletter: "One father I spoke to was holding back tears as he watched his son step into the ocean for the first time in his life."

When beachgoers at the 2025 event asked whether it would return, Viscarra wrote in September 2025 that she had secured funding. "I made sure it stayed in the budget," she wrote.

For the second year, Viscarra wrote in the Aug. 31 city account that the city applied lessons from the inaugural event and made adjustments. No attendance figures for either year have been released.

The City of Sunny Isles Beach posted photos from the Aug. 11 event on Instagram, thanking Surfers Healing and the families who attended. The city has not announced a date for a third Adaptive Beach Day, though Viscarra has said she intends the partnership with Surfers Healing to continue.

Residents can contact Viscarra at [email protected] or 305-792-1750 for more information about the program.