Dozens of sandy-haired kids, dressed in bathing suits and carrying backpacks, climbed into charter vans in the Zuma Beach parking lot at the end of another day of surf and sand at Malibu Makos Surf Camp on Monday afternoon.
The camp, now in its 25th year, hosts more than 100 young surfers every week from all over northern Los Angeles and southern Ventura Counties. Campers range in age from five years old up through teenagers.
“It’s a great opportunity for non-Malibu people to know and appreciate Malibu,” said surf instructor Taylor Nelson, herself a native of Thousand Oaks, as she paused from packing up wetsuits into a van after Monday’s lesson.
Other instructors agree. According to fellow instructor Julia Domenech, a teacher from Ventura, they come to learn surfing, but what they get is an appreciation for Malibu’s stretch of sea.
“They are learning how to be at an ocean,” said Domenech, who added, “once you love the ocean, you want to take care of it.”
She went on to say that the young campers learn safety as a first priority.
“They’re the ones teaching ocean safety to their friends, what to do in a riptide, how to call for help,” said Domenech.
Chloe Respondek, a student at Point Dume Marine Science School, is back this summer for her fifth season with Malibu Makos.
“It’s just so much fun for me to go in waves, it feels like a roller coaster in water and I really like that,” said Respondek, who began attending camp at only five years old.
She said she feels much more confident about being safe in the ocean since she started attending surf camp.
“I’ve learned how to swim parallel when a current is there and picking you up, and not to panic,” said Respondek.
The Malibu Makos Surf Camp is one of over a dozen camps offered throughout Malibu this week alone, and one of two surf camps — the other, hosted by the City of Malibu, is at Surfrider Beach and also runs through the season.
This summer, Malibu’s youngest citizens have a chance to pursue a wide range of interests at a whole slew of city-sponsored summer camps. Youngsters interested in flag football, jedi sword fighting or science experiments were in luck this week, with the City of Malibu hosting camps for kids of all skill levels.
Next week, kids interested in basketball, baseball, tennis or soccer can try their hand during a city-sponsored camp. There will also be opportunities for the creative child to make movie magic at lego animation camp.
Most of these camps are intended for kids up to 12 years old, but Malibu teens this week are not left out. Many are honing skills in performing arts at one of six camps on Pepperdine’s campus, including instruction on acting, dancing and film production. The camps at Pepperdine this week are hosted by US Performing Arts Camps.
For young families that want to spend more time together this summer, registration is open for Pepperdine Family Camps, which run in two sessions through late July and August. More information can be found at www.pepperdine.edu.
Registration is still open for most City of Malibu Summer Camps, all of which run a week long. Dates, rates and details are available for those camps at www.malibucity.org.
No matter the age or skill level, it seems that there’s something for every kid in Malibu this summer. And according to those gathered at Zuma for Makos Surf Camp, these childhood memories often translate into adulthood passions.
“That happens so often, that a kid grows up in the camp, spends so many years, and ends up an instructor in the summer,” said Domenech.
Chloe Respondek seems to be a prime example.
“I’m going do it as many years as I can and hopefully become a counselor,” she said.
