Sunless Spots : On a Bright Day, Many Prefer the Privacy and Ease of Tanning Salons

Smog was slight, the mercury had settled in the low 80s, under bright sunshine, and a soft wind wafted outside a West Hollywood tanning salon Monday afternoon.

Inside, Candace Murphy, clad in a neon-green-and-black bikini, could have been stretched on the sand and enjoying the sun, Southern California style.

So what was she doing under a tanning bed’s rays, instead of soaking up the real thing?

“I don’t like the beach. I don’t like the saltwater. I don’t like putting on oil and having sand blow all over me,” complained the 30-year-old model from North Hollywood, who shunned Monday’s natural glow for a 30-minute bake at California Tan.

Temperatures in the low 80s inland and mid-70s at the beaches made Monday a perfect day for cruising to the Southland’s sandy strands. But some die-hard tanners, like Murphy, ignored it all, preferring to bask under bulbs for convenience.

While Murphy was achieving a tan she says would have taken her six hours to get at the beach, Jim Cumley, who arranges the schedule at California Tan, said clients give all kinds of reasons for stopping by the salon on a hot day.

“A lot of people come in because they’re too busy to go to the beach,” Cumley said.

At a tanning salon there is privacy and “you don’t have all the sweat and stuff you have at the beach.”

Cumley said he maintains a steady clientele, even in warm weather.

“It’s cool in here,” he said, pointing to an air conditioner propped in the window.

Elsewhere, one athletic club reported a slight slowdown in tanning booth business because of the conditions outdoors.

“The weather just got nice, so it seems like people would want to be outside,” said Shawn Casey, general manager of the Athletic Club in West Hollywood.

The warm weather will continue today, with slightly cooler temperatures in the high 70s inland, said Steve Burback of WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times.

The mercury peaked at 84 degrees in downtown Los Angeles on Monday. That may be great weather for a day at the beach, admitted Mark Humberson, 28, who stopped by Beverly Hills 24-Hour Suntanning Studio for a 20-minute session. But who needs the packed freeways and noisy crowds that go along with it? he asked.

“Coming here, five minutes from home and sitting in a sun coffin for 20 minutes, is much more convenient than getting in the car and going to the beach,” he said.

Plus, some people think soaking up the sun on a nice day is out of style. With tanning salons, “there’s a real high-tech appeal,” Humberson said with a grin. “You can say ‘I’m a modern kind of person.”’

Then the graduate student in psychology grabbed his protective goggles, eased onto a tanning bed and was clamped under its lid for a dose of artificial rays.