How We Started
Fundación Cuatro Estrellas began by providing food assistance and repairing homes for families facing hardship. While those programs remain an important part of our mission, our founders' dream was always to connect local children with the ocean.
That vision became reality when Sentinel Ocean Alliance trained our team to deliver the Turn the Tide program. Since then, we've completed 10 cohorts, helping more than 120 children overcome their fear of the water while introducing ocean safety, environmental stewardship, and swimming skills. Today, we're proud to have expanded those opportunities with our first intermediate swimming and youth wingfoiling program, creating a pathway for local kids to build confidence, develop new skills, and discover a lifelong connection to the sea.
Why We’re Here
Cabarete draws people from around the world for its water — the waves, the wind, the reef. But for many of the children who actually live here, that same water is something to fear, not enjoy. Swim lessons are a given for visiting tourists and rarely available to the local kids who need them most. The result is a quiet, preventable crisis: drowning remains one of the leading causes of death for children in coastal Caribbean communities, and Cabarete is no exception.
Fundación Cuatro Estrellas was founded to change that math. We teach local children to swim, wingfoil, and read the ocean they live beside — not as a luxury, but as a basic survival skill every child in this town deserves. Through free swim instruction, structured watersports programs, and community water-safety education, we're turning the sea from a hazard into a source of confidence, skill, and opportunity for the next generation of Cabarete.
