The Palisades fire spewed toxins into the Pacific

The wave is all anger and elegance. Shaped like a cursive C, it hurtles toward the Santa Monica shore. A child on a surfboard balances on its crest. Or at least he tries to. The boy wipes out. Hard. But then he pops up in the whitewash, all smiles. His Aqua Surf School instructor is grinning too. On this happy day, the Palisades fire, which in January burned all the way to the shores of the Pacific about five miles north of this Santa Monica beach, feels like a distant memory for student and teacher, according to Tribune News Service.

But back on the sand, surf camps — long mainstays of Santa Monica Bay's shorelines — are suffering this summer. Several have seen a significant drop in attendance because families are concerned the surf or sand is contaminated with fire pollutants. At Aqua Surf's camps alone, business is down by 20% to 30%, said Dylan Sohngen, executive director. "I talk to parents about this issue every day, and it's really sad," said Sohngen, who has trimmed Aqua Surf's staff due to the drop in campers. "There are a lot of families who are just going to pass on it this year — it's considered a luxury item for them. You know, 'Let's do other activities this summer.' We have an entire ocean, an incredible resource ... and it's sad that people are getting that taken away from them."

Four other youth surf camp or surf school operators said business is notably lower this summer as many families express angst over possible health dangers — even though public health authorities say it is safe to go in the water at the beaches where they operate. That disconnect has left instructors frustrated, predicting economic hardship — and a hit to a classic summertime tradition — if the slide continues. "Everyone's gonna go bankrupt," said Anthony Petri, owner of Always Summer Surf School in Malibu. "These are people's livelihoods; this is how you feed yourself, feed your family." For decades, surf camps have offered parents an easy way to introduce kids to a quintessential Southern California pastime. Most begin in June, and last well into August; children ages 5 through 17 are typically welcome. Prices vary, with some camps costing about $150 for a day pass and upward of $600 for a week. A few of the larger operators said that more than 1,000 kids attend their camps over the course of the summer.

At a time when many kids' summers have become highly programmed — filled with sleep-away camps, academic enrichment and organized sports — surf camp has been seen by many parents as a refreshing throwback. And one that they didn't have to wring their hands over. Until now.

Take West LA parent Ivy Cavic. For her, it's too soon to send 9-year-old son Wolf back to surf camp. He long attended Fitness by the Sea in Santa Monica. Not this year. "They have the answers for today, but they have no ability to forecast how this will affect us a year down the line, two years, 10 years," she said of authorities' testing efforts. "There's just so much out there — between air quality and all of these crazy things — that we've had to worry about for our children. The only thing I can control is protecting my kid." Surf camp operators said that they understood parents' reticence. And some pointed out different reasons for a decline in business, including the deleterious effect that recent immigration enforcement raids — and the protests they spurred — have had on tourism. Still, so far, no camps or surf schools have shut down, according to several operators.

The Palisades fire did force the relocation of a handful of camp companies that operated at Will Rogers State Beach, where a parking lot was tapped to temporarily process fire debris. Though the beach, located in Pacific Palisades, is open, lots there remained closed for months. Mar Vista parent Angelica Mistro, whose children have long attended Freedom Surf Camps, said that earlier this year she briefly harbored "those doubts" about the safety of the ocean after the fire. But after discussing the issue with Freedom's owner, she decided to send her 8- and 15-year-old daughters back to the company's camp in Venice this summer.