Join us June 14th, 2025 as we celebrate these delicious, invasive, spiky creatures.
The 4th Annual Urchin/Uni Festival will be filled with some amazing educational events and tasty treats!
And the focus is on Urchin at our participating local restaurants June 7 – 16.
June 14th, 11am
at Van Damme State Beach
Join us down at this beach – where kelp forests are slowly making a comeback, as is the local abalone population – for an educational talk about urchin, including demos on how to open urchin to get your own uni.
The talk and demo is free for all – and with a $10 demo you can try out your new skills and smash your own urchin to get to the uni yourself.
Saturday, June 14, 5:30pm
at Little River Inn Abalone Deck
Savor uni munchies and sake while enjoying interactive demonstrations, learn tips and tricks to prepare and cook urchin, sashimi, and whatever else mother ocean provides that day.
Price is TBD.
June 12-16
Celebrate California State Parks Week at any of the beautiful state parks on the Mendocino Coast. California parks park units preserve and protect the best of our state’s natural and cultural history, from natural features and ecosystems to historic structures and cultural resources. This year’s tagline is “This is where you live,” and you can explore all the scheduled events at castateparksweek.org.
Friday, June 14 TENTATIVE
SCP Hotels hosts a campfire on Van Damme Beach with Ranger talk and small bites prepared fireside
June 15, 11am – 3pm
Visit the Noyo Center Marine Field Station in Noyo Harbor and learn about the organization’s land-based urchin aquaculture system, or urchin ranch. While you are there, see the underwater photo and video installation featuring the work of Abbey Dias and Patrick Webster, taste wild and farmed uni, and learn more about the fascinating purple urchin from Noyo Center educators.
Donations welcome.
Noyo Center Marine Field Station
32430 N. Harbor Drive
Fort Bragg, CA
A variety of Mendocino restaurants are offering special Uni menus during this timeframe, from Uni Baked Oysters to Salmon with Champagne and Sea Urchin Beurre Blanc; various prices. Pull a seat up at Harbor House Inn, Inn at Newport Ranch, KW Saltwater Café, Noyo Harbor Inn, Izakaya Gama, SIBO, and Wickson Restaurant.
A variety of hotels are offering package deals, uni menus, sea foraging and weekend value pricing including, Wharfmaster Inn, Elk Cove Inn, Inn at Newport Ranch, Noyo HarborInn, Harbor House Inn , Nicholson House and more
Deals and Specials
Saturday June 15
Little River Inn ups the ante with packages including guest accommodations and a Japanese Whiskey with Uni pairing
Join the Noyo Harbor staff for a walking tour of Noyo Harbor. Learn about the different fisheries and vessels that operate out of the marina and how a healthy kelp forest relates to healthy fisheries and thus healthy communities.
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