Campus Point Summer Invasion
by Paul Costales

With summer being torn through at a fairly rapid pace, it's a good time to document what goes on at UCSB's Campus Point in the off-season. With the regular academic year over, UCSB has the raw materials to offer beach summer camps - college students with free time and empty pockets, and a monopoly on the easiest surfing beach access for miles. In the morning, UCSB runs a Junior Lifeguard program and in the afternoon they offer a summer camp program. Needless to say these programs take up most of the space, on land and in water, at Campus Point. However families can still find some room for summer recreation down at Campus Point on the weekdays.

Passing through the 2.4 million dollar Henley Gate is a breathtaking experience. Sure the architecture is impressive, but the really breathtaking part is naming an entrance after one of the major fundraisers. Now you can pass through the Henley Gate, go around the Steck Roundabout, and be wowed by the size of the lettering on ELINGS HALL.

Pulling up at Campus Point, the JG kids were spread all over in a frenzy of activity; swimming out to buoys, running relays, doing pushups, and paddling foam boards. They are preparing for the upcoming JG contests in Ventura and Manhattan Beach, after competing at East Beach in a more localized contest last Friday. These kids will also participate in a tour of the Coast Guard's Blackfin (by swimming or paddling out to it), as well as a visit to Santa Cruz Island (which I'm sure one or two of these kids could swim or paddle to also).

This day was pretty mellow in the water. The JG kids were slated to prepare for competition as opposed to other days when they get to surf. On those days, all of these foam boards would be out in the water, with a Junior Lifeguard piloting them into and around other people. On days with good waves that would attract other surfers, there would be chaos in the water. The lineup would include a few dozen JG kids along with a dozen or so other surfers. Boards getting washed in sideways taking out kids whose boards would then take out more kids in consistent pileups.

Today was more of a local family day in the water though. This father was out on his lunch break teaching his daughter how to surf. There weren't a whole lot of waves, and the waves that did come broke in real close, but the girl could not be deterred. She was absolutely pumped to catch a wave and took it all the way until her board hit the sand. Her dad was the beaming proud parent, giving her high fives, and they raced up the beach for another one.

Even a terribly small day surfing can be a fun time with the right company. There were two other guys who were making the most of it too. These surfers were probably just stoked that all the kids had to do pushups on the beach and weren't out in the water yet.

At noon the JG program hunkers down for lunch and the water clears out for a few minutes. At 1:00pm, UCSB brings in summer camp with a new group of kids at the beach who can surf, swim, kayak, or hang out. Looking back towards the surf spot Poles, just down from Campus Point, you can see the Henley Gate. Sometimes you'll be having so much fun out there surfing, you'll forget you're just a stones throw from all the serious academia.

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Paul Costales is a surfer who lives in Santa Barbara.