A Day at the Beach

Southern California beaches. The words conjure images of an endless summer of surfing, swimming, beach volleyball, body boarding, skateboarding, and riding bikes or rollerblading on the beach bikepaths that wind their way down our coast. And the scenery. Anyone who says they tune into "Baywatch" to see rescue techniques ala the Discovery Channel or serious drama is a liar.

The day at the beach typically starts in early afternoon when our coastal fog burns off. Lots of people go to the beach but don’t go in the water. You see, the Pacific Ocean water temperatures around Southern California seldom gets warmer than 70 degrees in San Diego and 64 degrees in Santa Barbara, the two cities that mark the beginning and end of southern California. (Snobbish Santa Barbarans argue they are actually part of Central California, more for reasons of wanting to separate themselves from Los Angelenos than any justification based on geography.) So, water temperatures tend to keep all but the hearty or wetsuit-clad on the beach. Also, the picket lines of water quality warning signs that blossom on California beaches every week further reduce the number of "beach goers" who might actually get in the water.

Teens inevitably congregate and segregate into groups around strategic locations on the beach, just like they do in the lunch rooms of high schools. The three things that matter are location, location, location, as if position confers identity and the much sought after quality of being "cool." Surfers hang near the splash zone peering off into distance trying to "read" the ocean for signs of a rideable break. Skateboarders hang near the seawall and parking lot beyond, since this is where they practice their craft. The "popular people" tend to station keep around the life guard towers in order to be seen at the beach. Volleyball players hold up near the nets hoping to challenge onto and hold one of the scarce courts. The kids who don’t identify with any group claim the vast areas in between on the less desireable pieces of real estate. Woe to the kids in this group that violate the boundaries of the others.

So what do beach goers do? Mostly just hang out. Inevitably, someone produces a football, frisbee or some other beach game. But, the wide and uncrowded sand beaches needed for these activities a scarce resource in beach obsessed SoCal. The lack of beach problem is made worse by beach erosion caused by years of neglect by municipalities combined with the California Coastal Commission policies that give lip service to coastal recreation but essentially view humans in the coastal area as an invasive species to be controlled and eradicated.

While at the beach this summer, I witnessed a new beach game, beach boxing. No, this activity doesn’t take place in a boxing ring set up in a parking lot, like beach roller hockey, or in an area set aside for the purpose, like the weight lifting Muscle Beach area of Venice. A couple of kids in a group produced a set of boxing gloves and a new beach recreation activity was born. Most of the bouts were like most backyard boxing matches, they were little more than good natured play fighting, what some people call "fun fights." There were only three bouts, just enough to provide a diversion for a little while.

I doubt it will catch on soon. There isn’t much opportunity for sponsorship or for a professional beach boxing circuit ala volleyball. But, the participants and spectators were having fun in the sun, nobody got hurt, and it was over a quick as it started.