Today's Featured Day Camp: Aloha Beach Camp

Spring is here and the school  year will be over before you know it.  That means it's time for parents to start checking out summer camp options for their kids. 

Most popular programs sell out quickly here in L.A., so we want to help you stay in "in the know."  That's why we'll be featuring some of L.A.'s best day camps and overnight camps this spring to help you avoid overlooking any programs your child might enjoy.

Today's featured program is Aloha Beach Camp, widely considered among parents to be among the top summer beach camps for kids and teens in Los Angeles.

Aloha Beach Camp Summer Day Camp

Aloha Beach Camp is L.A.’s most comprehensive aquatic sports day camp program with over 200 safe and fun beach, lake, and ocean activities for kids and teens ages 4 to 14. 

This is a unique program.  The camp's main location is Zuma Beach in Malibu where campers enjoy instructional surfing, boogie boarding, ocean swimming and beach safety lessons.  But that's just the beginning.

In addition to its primary day camp program at Zuma Beach,  Aloha Beach Camp kids also take frequent day trips to many of L.A.’s best beaches, lakes, and water parks such as Paradise Cove in Malibu, Castaic Lake, and Hurricane Harbor Water Park where they go jet skiing, inner tubing, boating, ocean kayaking, and enjoy hundreds of additional aquatic camp activities from sandcastle building to wakeboarding and everything in between.

Considering Aloha Beach Camp's itinerant beach program format, you might be wondering how your child will get to camp each day.  If you're like most parents, you don't have the time or inclination to drive your kids all over town to meet up with the camp group at a different location every day.

Guess what? Aloha Beach Camp provides free bus service for your child. They do the driving so you don't have to.  (More on this convenient service in a moment.)

Reasons We Love This Camp

There's so many fun and convenient aspects of this summer program, we can't imagine any child not absolutely loving the Aloha Beach Camp experience. 

After all, what's not to love? We always suggest doing your own own due diligence, but Aloha Beach Camp appears to offer a unique combination of features and benefits unmatched by other day camps. 

Just in case you need more convincing, though, here' s a few more aspects of the program that really make it stand out, not just in Los Angeles, but among the entire southern California summer day camp landscape.

• No prior beach, ocean or swimming experience required for kids to participate

Eric Naftulin, Aloha Beach Camp's owner and Executive Camp Director, understands many kids who are interested in attending his camp may have limited-to-no prior beach and ocean experience.

"But parents shouldn't worry about that," Naftulin explains, "because learning how to become safe and comfortable in the ocean is part of the Aloha experience. Even non-swimmers can enjoy our program safely."

According to Naftulin, all of Aloha Beach Camp's activities are of an instructional nature, meaning no prior beach or ocean experience is necessary.

No experience is needed to participate at Aloha Beach Camp's activities. Kids will learn how to surf and boogie board among other beach and ocean sports.

"Our counselors are dedicated to teaching campers how to do all the camp activities from the ground up," Naftulin said.  "All of our staff are  lifeguards and CPR and First Aid certified and have your child’s safety in mind, irrespective of their previous ocean experience or swimming level. Every child is welcome at Aloha Beach Camp no matter what. "

• Free transportation for L.A. kids

Aloha Beach Camp provides free transportation for campers with several bus stop meeting points throughout Los Angeles and the Valley.

While many day camps in Los Angeles offer transportation, most charge extra fees for this convenient service.

But Aloha Beach Camp provides it free.

"If you're paying extra for transportation," Naftulin said, "You might be paying too much for camp," Naftulin said. "Here at Aloha Beach Camp, transportation is always free for every camper. We've got over 20 convenient pick-up and drop-off spots throughout L.A., so you'll never need to drive more than a couple minutes to meet the camp bus."

If you're choosing a day camp with transportation, Naftulin said, double check with the camp director in advance to see if there's an additional fee for the bus.

• Wide variety of age-appropriate programs and activities available

For kids who are interested in enjoying summer camp at the beach in Los Angeles -- and all the fun that comes with it like surfing, boogie boarding, jet skiing and more -- Aloha Beach Camp's day camp program seems hard to resist.

A veritable aquatic wonderland for L.A. area kids, Aloha Beach Camp boasts an impressive array of over 200 age-appropriatebeach and ocean activities at different beaches and lakes on a rotating basis.

"Our program primarily takes place at Zuma Beach," Naftulin says, "but we also take different day trips to numerous other aquatic venues throughout L.A. and Malibu so the kids can enjoy not just one beach, but many, and where they can participant in all sorts of fun activities from candy lei making on the beach to ocean surfing lessons and everything in between. 

"This kind of program format -- with a variety of activities and program locations -- keeps campers engaged and looking forward to camp each day all summer. Here at Aloha, kids never get bored!,"  Naftulin said.

Recognizing every child is different and various activities may be more suitable for different age groups, Aloha Beach Camp is actually comprised of three different age-appropriate summer programs for 4 to 7 years olds, 8 to 11 year olds, and 12 to 15 year-olds, respectively.

"All the activities are available to every camper," said Naftulin, "but all the activities are presented to each age group in age-appropriate ways. For example, every child loves jet skiing, and every child gets to do it. But it would not be appropriate for their counselor to drive a jet ski 20 MPH with a 5 year old on board because that speed is reserved for our 12-year old campers and older.  But 8 MPH or so is perfect for a safe and fun jet ski ride around the lake for our younger kids," Naftulin said.

• L.A.'s only accredited summer beach day camp

Since every parent is concerned about their child's safety, families will be comforted to know Aloha Beach Camp is L.A.’s only beach camp to achieve accreditation by the American Camp Association.

"Deciding between an accredited and unaccredited summer camp is something parents should not take lightly,"  Naftulin said.  "Accredited summer camps set the standard for safety, quality and fun."

Among the 12,000 day and sleepaway camps across the country, fewer than 2,400 have earned accredited camp status. "From a quality and credibility standpoint, accredited camps are like accredited colleges and universities. Most parents wouldn't want their kids attending an unaccredited school because the lack of accreditation raises question about the its legitimacy," Naftulin said.

Aloha Beach Camp is the only summer beach day camp in the Los Angeles area to achieve earn accredited camp status from the American Camp Assocation

According to Naftulin, camps become accredited by undergoing an intensive on-site audit by a panel of 3rd party industry officials from the American Camp Association while camp's in session.

During the audit, the camp must prove compliance with over 300 safety and quality standards relating to best-practice methods of camp operation. "The standards relate to camper health and safety, transportation safety and execution,  program and activity quality, counselor and staff hiring and training practices, camper-to-staff supervision ratios, and hundreds more ," Naftulin said.

"It's not that unaccredited camps are necessarily 'bad' camps" Naftulin said. "It's that the camps that choose to undergo the stringent camp accreditation process are choosing a system that forces their  commitment to 300 quality and safety standards relative to running an above-board camp. That means parents have extra peace of mind regarding their child's safety when they choose an accredited program."

When considering a summer camp, Naftulin advises parents to use the American Camp Association's accreditation verification tool. "Parents should always verify whether the camp they're considering is accredited prior to signing up" says Naftulin. "If it isn't, you should ask the camp director why it's not."

Among the 12,000 day and sleepaway camps across the country, fewer than 2,400 have earned accredited camp status. "From a quality and credibility standpoint, accredited camps are like accredited colleges and universities. Most parents wouldn't want their kids attending an unaccredited school because the lack of accreditation raises question about the its legitimacy," Naftulin said.

According to Naftulin, camps become accredited by undergoing an intensive on-site audit by a panel of 3rd party industry officials from the American Camp Association while camp's in session.

During the audit, the camp must prove compliance with over 300 safety and quality standards relating to best-practice methods of camp operation. "The standards relate to camper health and safety, transportation safety and execution,  program and activity quality, counselor and staff hiring and training practices, camper-to-staff supervision ratios, and hundreds more ," Naftulin said.

"It's not that unaccredited camps are necessarily 'bad' camps" Naftulin said. "It's that the camps that choose to undergo the stringent camp accreditation process are choosing a system that forces their  commitment to 300 quality and safety standards relative to running an above-board camp. That means parents have extra peace of mind regarding their child's safety when they choose an accredited program."

When considering a summer camp, Naftulin advises parents to use the American Camp Association's accreditation verification tool. "Parents should always verify whether the camp they're considering is accredited prior to signing up" says Naftulin. "If it isn't, you should ask the camp director why it's not."

• Sign up by the day with Aloha Beach Camp's convenient day-by-day enrollment format

If you've sent your child to camp before, you're probably familiar with "enrollment sessions -- a fixed period of time, with specific starting and ending dates, the camp requires you to adhere to when sending your child to camp.

Session enrollment is common registration format among camps, but Naftulin says it's a rigid, antiquated cookie-cutter enrollment system that strips parents of what they want the most -- convenience and flexibility -- when signing up for camp.

"What if your family's summer schedule doesn't match up with the camp sessions? What if you want to take a family vacation or have other important activities on your family's summer calendar? Unless ​your family's schedule fits neatly into the camp's predetermined session dates, the session enrollment concept can be awfully inconvenient, not to mention expensive, because your kids might up being forced to miss or skip part of the camp session you already paid for in advance.

"Requiring families to adhere to fixed enrollment sessions doesn't reflect real life," Naftulin said. "It's completely inconsistent with the lifestyle of today's busy families who demand convenience, flexibility and speed.  So here at Aloha, you can create your own camp sessions instead."

To make camp enrollment easier for parents, Aloha Beach Camp pioneered the "day-by-day enrollment" concept where, essentially, every day is a new camp session.  

"When you sign up for Aloha Beach Camp, you can completely customize your child's camp schedule rather than adhering to any prearranged enrollment sessions set by the camp," Naftulin said. "You get complete control in designing your child's camp schedule. You can pick a day here, a day there, on an as-needed or as-wanted basis.  Choose your own starting and ending dates. Come and go to camp whenever you please on a day-by-day schedule you create by yourself."

In addition to free transportation, Naftulin said his day-by-day enrollment format is the camp's most popular feature among families. 

"You don't have to plan your summers around camp sessions anymore," Naftulin said.

"You can easily manage several kids' schedules at once, take a summer vacation, send your kids to summer school, or even to multiple camps at the same time because every day starts over again with new activities, new friends and a new, welcoming environment for every camper,  rather than every few weeks or months when a new session would typically begin. 

"Come to camp any day you want," Naftulin said. "We're here when you need us."

• If your kids don't love Aloha, they'll give you all your money back

Many camps have no-refund policies.  Understandable, because you never know how a child will take to a new environment. Not only that, by the time a child says they aren't enjoying themselves and the camp issues a refund,  it may be too late for the camp to fill the child's space with a new camper.

Aloha Beach Camp is the only Los Angeles day camp to assume all the financial risk in the customer-camp relationship with a 100% money-back guarantee.

"We want you to be completely satisfied when you choose Aloha Beach Camp," Naftuln said. "Your child gets two full days to try our program risk-free. If they don't love it,  you don't pay. Just say the word and we'll give you all your money back, no questions asked.  We understand camp's not cheap and the summer's too short for kids to spend time doing anything they don't love, so we gladly make this guarantee to you."

How to Learn More About Aloha Beach Camp

If you're like us, you're intrigued to learn a lot more about this Los Angeles summer camp.

Naftulin welcomes parents to call and email him for more information any time, but says attending an Open House is the best way to learn more about the program. 

"You can meet our staff in person and get a true up close and personal feel for how the camp works every day. Our next Open House is Sunday, April 29 at Zuma Beach. It's totally free and your whole family is invited to come down to Malibu. We'll show you exactly how everything works at camp all summer long.  We'll have lots of free food for everyone, too!"