Aloha Beach Camp Summer Camp Blog 2021

Every day we received questions from concerned parents regarding our plans to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in our camp communiy.

Though restrictions are loosening, will always error on side of health, safety and caution.

You will likely see the CDC coming out with new camp guidelines sooner rather than later, although we are under the guidance of the LA County Dept of Public Health. 

While are most of the restrictions, as they stand now, are quite feasible for us, as being outside at the beach is among the safest places you can be.  Staff will be vaccinated and wearing masks, kids will wear them when not swimming, eating or participating in physical activity, and all the groups/cohorts will have their own equipment with no sharing between groups.

Everyone will wear masks on the bus with windows down. Buses will be disinfected 2 to 3 x per day. We may eliminate some or most of the field trip locations and keep everything at the beach depending on certain conditions. We are the only beach camp licensed, permitted and accredited by the LA County Dept. of Beaches and Harbors, LA County Dept. of Public Health, and American Camp Association. The LA County Dept of Public Health is the same govt agency that sets COVID protocol.

We assume things will loosen even more, and will make adjustments accordingly going forward. But for now, this is part of our plan.

We had a fantastic online open house  last weekend!  If you joined us, we hope you found it useful and informative. If you missed it, don't worry  -- we've already got our next  open house  on the calendar and hope you can make it for this one.

Aloha Beach Camp is getting full, with demand for summer camp  in 2021  already at an all time high. Don't miss out!   Reserve your space at our virtual summer camp open house for Sunday, April 11. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Each day we get emails from parents who want to sign up their kids for beach camp.

Many of the messages contain the same questions, so it caused us to think, "there must be many more other families out there who have the same questions, but haven't taken the time to ask."

So, here's a quick post of some of the questions (and answers!) we received just this morning. You can always visit our FAQ's if you have additional questions, or feel free to leave us a comment here and we'll respond right away. We are here to help!

Aloha Beach Camp does not operate according to prearranged sessions. You can pick and choose the days you want to send your kids to camp. Read about unique day-by-day enrollment where you can in essence "cherry-pick" the days you want your child to come to camp.

There's an interesting article on lasummercamps.com today. Talks about how the coronavirus has created a huge demand for kids' summer camps and how tough it will be for parents to find available space at camp this year.

From a personal perspective, we can tell you we still have room for your camper at Aloha, but it's getting tight. Everything the article says is true. Here's the link again so you're up to speed on how hard it might be to find room as camp this summer in a post-pandemic environment.

Of course we hope you'll choose Aloha Beach Camp! We're L.A.'s only   5-Star, American Camp Association Accredited  beach camp with operating licenses and   permits  from the  Los Angeles County Dept. of Beaches and Harbors  and  the L.A. County Dept. of Public  Health.  That means we are a COVID-compliant business  dedicated to your child's health,   safety and fun at camp this summer. ​

That means this coming summer is more meaningful and important  than ever. Demand for camp is at an all-time high, and  many programs are already enrolling kids.   In fact,  many camps are reporting an interesting trend: As COVID restrictions  begin to relax and the vaccine provides new hope for some return  to normalcy,   families are signing  up for camp earlier than  ever  while recognizing how  competitive finding available space at the top camps this year will be.

The question  remains, though: How do you even FIND the best summer camps?   Simply signing up for the first camp you find isn't enough, let alone wise. You need to make sure you're  choosing one with  appropriate credentials,  a  proven track record,  quality reputation and an overall above-board program where the counselors and staff are committed to  creating a  safe, fun  and memorable experience for your kids this summer.

Aloha Beach Camp has a profile  listing there, too. But in addition to us, you can find literally any type of  camp you want, according to any criteria important to you, such as type of camp, camp location, etc. enabling you to find the best summer program for your kids this year. ​

Each year Aloha Beach Camp hosts a series of Open House events where kids and families can learn more about the camp, meet the staff and see how Aloha Beach Camp operates on a day-to-day basis. While Open Houses have historically taken place at Zuma Beach, this year we have moved our Open Houses online. The first Open House takes place Sunday, March 21 from 1:30 to 3:30 pm on Google Meet.   Get more Open House information here.

Hand-picking your own dates has always been a staple of Aloha Beach Camp enrollment. Families love the flexibility of creating their own schedules rather than conforming to regimented prearranged session dates set by the camp.

For now, we are keeping things status quo while remaining optimistic you'll be able to continue choosing your own camp dates this summer.

At the same time, news, information and regulations pertaining to COVID protocol is constantly evolving. Depending on what we hear from local health and safety regulators in the months ahead, campers may be required to sign up for camp according to an attendance schedule  that  more resembles an organized session structure than coming and going to camp whenever they please. 

For example, in light of COVID we may need to switch to a series of 10 individual one-week (Monday through Friday) sessions. Under this scenario, campers would need to attend camp Monday through Friday for the entire week. (You could sign up for as many or as few weekly sessions as you want, but your child would need to attend camp all 5 days each week for every session you choose.) This would ensure campers are not coming and going in and out of camp as they please, and help to reduce  potential spread of COVID 19.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. For now, feel free to sign up for camp on any schedule you want. You can pick consecutive days or sprinkle them out over the course of the summer -- totally your call.

If we need our day-by-day enrollment format and require more more regimented registration procedures, we will give you ample notice. You will certainly have enough time to rearrange your child's enrollment according to a convenient schedule that fits your needs, and we will help make this process seamless and easy.

So, sign up now and pick you own dates!

Just in case we can't have the Open House in person, all is not lost. We'll have an online open house instead, likely on Zoom or some other video conferencing platform where we can still get together in real time.

Stay tuned for updates!

All of this means finding available space at camp will be tougher than ever in 2021, so we highly advise signing up now to reserve your spot before all our space is gone.

What we do know is that employing these kinds of measures is important to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and keeping our campers and staff healthy and safe at camp.

We missed our campers so very much when we were closed, and we know you missed out on tons of fun last summer. We are already working hard to make sure your Aloha Beach Camp experience is double the fun in 2021.

Get ready for a one-of-a-kind, 2nd-to-none beach camp experience in 2021 that you will never forget!

Hello Aloha Beach Camp Families! We wanted to take a moment to share with you an update on Aloha Beach Camp's transportation program for 2021, namely in connection to the coronavirus pandemic.

You will be glad to know we fully intend on providing transportation in summer 2021. Numerous health and safety measures will be in place to minimize the potential spread of COVID-19 including  social distancing procedures (such as spacing the campers in-between seats), disinfecting the buses twice per day, keeping windows open en route and other best practices to help campers and staff stay healthy and safe.

At the same time,  it's important to remember Covid-19 infection rates are consistently in flux, and guidance from federal, state and local health officials is also constantly changing.  One thing we do know is that limiting movement, travel, and indoor congregation are important components of controlling the spread of coronavirus.  In the event we are unable to provide transportation or required to make other modifications to our bus system to comply with government regulations, we will notify you right away. 

Our free transportation service has always been one of the hallmarks of the Aloha Beach Camp experience. We know many families rely heavily on this important convenience, especially among families where both parents work, and many campers enjoy riding the bus as much as attending  camp itself.

For now, the good news is we expect to operate Aloha Beach Camp's bus program this coming summer.  Of course, you are always free to drop-off and pick-up your kids at camp whether or not transportation is provided by the camp. We are located at Lifeguard Tower 7 on Zuma Beach. The major cross streets are Pacific Coast Highway and Morningview Drive in Malibu.

We are looking forward to a safe, fun and exciting 2021 summer camp experience and can't wait to see you at camp!