Thousands Beat the Heat at Beaches : Weather: Inland residents and visitors from other counties find relief by the sea. Temperatures drop slightly but may return to triple digits.

Yet another day of stifling heat and moderately polluted air in inland valleys drove thousands of area residents to the cooler clime of Ventura County’s beaches on Sunday, where light morning fog and the cool sea breeze provided a welcome respite.

They came from inland valleys all over the region where temperatures hovered in the 90s and air pollution approached the unhealthful range.

Suzanne Savard said it was so hot in Fillmore that her 2-year-old daughter Kayla wouldn’t go outside. But once she got to the ocean at Harbor Cove Beach near Ventura Harbor, Kayla changed her tune.

“She’s having so much fun playing on the beach that she doesn’t want to go home,” Savard said.

Kayla wasn’t the only one who preferred the beach, said state lifeguard Steve Ramirez, who worked San Buenaventura State Beach on Sunday.

“It’s definitely packed.”

Although temperatures on Sunday were down from the 100-plus marks they had hit in recent days, the mercury registered 92 in Ojai and 93 in Fillmore, Piru and Simi Valley. “And it’s muggy, so that always makes it seem worse,” said Gary Arcemont, meteorologist with the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District.

Temperatures in Thousand Oaks reached 85, with Oxnard and Ventura remaining in the comfortable 70s. Arcemont said temperatures today would drop slightly further to 91 in Fillmore, Simi Valley and Ojai, but would begin climbing back toward 100 later in the week.

Temperatures along the coast will drop off for the next few days as well, inching upward as the weekend approaches, he said.

Smog levels on Sunday remained moderate, with Simi Valley coming close to an unhealthful air reading. Smog was expected to stay in check until pollution rises with climbing temperatures later in the week, Arcemont sad.

But the forecast meant little to beach dwellers like Frank Navarro of Oxnard.

“It’s been a little warmer around here than usual, but I can’t really say it’s been hot,” said Navarro, who spent the day surfing with his son Mario off Silver Strand Beach. “But that’s why we live on the coast--so we don’t have to concern ourselves with the heat.

“I just wish the surf was a little better today.”

But inland residents swarmed to Ventura’s beaches for what has become a rare commodity: cool, fresh air.

“You can’t go anywhere in the Valley without air-conditioning and towels on your car seat,” said Diane Pourgholtzer of Chatsworth, who escaped temperatures in the 90s by relaxing at Silver Strand with 15 friends from the San Fernando Valley. “But the weather’s wonderful here.”

The beach fog did little to dampen Pourgholtzer’s spirits.

“I don’t mind the fog,” she said. “It’s much nicer than the smog.”

For some, the heat at home and the cool at the beach was enough to have them entertaining thoughts of relocating.

“I came here from Bakersfield and I have to say, it’s so nice here that I wouldn’t mind moving,” said Katie Beery, who instead of braving temperatures close to 100 where she lives enjoyed Harbor Cove with her husband and two children.

“The beach and the weather are wonderful.”