They’ve Got Tickets to Ride the Wild Waves

Nicole Santiago, 13, is in the small waves that break close to shore. As instructor Vince Ray holds her surfboard, she pushes up and gets to her feet. She wobbles as she straightens her posture. She bends her knees. As she spreads her arms to steady herself, a big smile spreads across her face. She’s caught her first wave.

She’s surfing.

“Did you see her?” Ray asks. “She stood up and she screamed like she won the Lotto. It was awesome.”

Ray, 41, has been director of the Chevron Surf Camp in Hermosa Beach for seven years and has seen the camp grow from 100 kids to 380.

The five-day camp for boys and girls, ages 10 to 17, costs $35 per student. There are usually 20 students in each 90-minute session, with two or three sessions each week throughout the summer.

It costs $80 per student to run the camp, but the goal is to keep the program affordable. Chevron, the oil company that has a nearby refinery, donated the original 16 foam boards and continues to donate $6,000 each year. The South Bay Surfrider Foundation donated $1,000, and local surf shops contribute gear and boards.

Students learn about ocean conditions, surfing etiquette and safety. They learn techniques such as walking the board and turning, and tricks such as “noseride” (standing near the front of the board) and “coffin” (surfing while lying on the board, back down, arms crossed, feet toward shore). They also patrol the beach looking for litter.

As they line up for relay races, girls outnumber boys in most of the classes, a trend Ray welcomes.

“In the past, women weren’t encouraged to surf or they were hassled until they quit,” Ray says, calling that “a huge black eye on the sport.”

Andrew Enriquez, 21, of Long Beach, who attended the first camp seven years ago with his sister and is now a camp instructor, also is glad for the change. “Girls have more fun at it,” he says. “Girls don’t get territorial.”

“Surfing is a great lifestyle,” Ray said. “It teaches you respect for nature. It teaches you to be humble. A three-foot wave can knock down the strongest man.”

It also instills confidence, and the young surfers recognize it.

“I had no idea how to surf last year,” said Tracy Jones, 13, of Torrance. “I like the thrill of waiting for the right wave and standing up and knowing you’ve succeeded in reaching a goal.”

For Nicole Santiago, surfing is like no other sport. “I play basketball. You know how high the hoop is, how long the court is,” she said. In surfing, she added, “You have to think: Is this a good wave or will I get pounded?”

And how does it feel to catch a wave?

“When you’re riding it, it feels like you’re floating, like you’re standing on water,” Santiago says.

Mike Penner, 11, of Manhattan Beach, says, “I felt like I jumped off a high mountain and I was flying through the air.”

Melodie Noetzli, 15, of Redondo Beach searched for words, then belted out the refrain of “Freedom,” a classic Aretha Franklin tune.

“It feels like you’re free, like you can do anything.”