This experience was nothing short of amazing. I had my niece for a couple days towards the end of…read moreher summer vacation and thought I'd get her into A-Frame's surf camp for kids. You can book by the day or a week at a time. I booked a day since we were approaching the end of her stay here. I will say I was hesitant at first to leave my 12 year old niece for the day camp from a water safety perspective, but that perspective changed quickly as I stood and heard how thorough the camp takes safety (even sunburns!). The kids are given water safety techniques with respect to the local wildlife and ground rules are discussed at length. I quickly realized I picked the right surf camp. My only regret is that we hadn't signed up earlier and for a longer period. Ideally I would have signed my niece up for the week long surf camp. But there's always next summer I would highly recommend A-Frame surf camp!

Went in with my kids to look around and inquire about their kids surf camps. The lady at the front…read moredesk was rude, gave glaring looks. A man who knew the lady (not sure if he also worked there) had two large dogs. My kids were very respectful and asked if they could let the dogs. He said yes, lady said one (she knew it by name) looked nervous. She was sending allll the evil vibes our way and clearly wanted us to leave. My son had skateboarded up, I commented that he should not ride it in the shop (obviously) but was excited because there was one in the doorway. The man kinda laughed and said yeah, tha would be a bad idea. The woman looked like she was going to have a kinipshin. Overall, just super unfriendly. We were clearly not the people she wanted in her shop. Not sure who she does since they had kids beach toys and other stuff prominently displayed, and advertised a kids surf camps. But I will definitly not be signing my kids up for that one.

Big congrats to AK on his new tiki retail store. Super excited to come across the Tiki Trader while…read moreon our annual camping trip to CARP. Picked up an awesome puffer fish lamp and tiki lava lamp. Can't wait to add to my home tiki bar and tiki hut. If you're looking to add to your tiki bar, Tiki Trader is the place. AK put together an amazing selection of tiki decor. Can't wait to visit again.

Hours aren't accurate, too bad because what we could see looked cool. But we came from out of the…read morearea, so doubt we'll come back, too far. Says open until 5pm, we got there at 4:15. Phone number doesn't work either.

I have been getting boards back from Max for years now. He does a fantastic job guarantees all of…read morehis work. He's my go to guy for when I have ding repair. Max is Surf legend don't let him tell you any different used to be one of the best surfers in California. He also shapes great surfboards! He is overall outstanding guy. Really taught me a lot about surfboard design with my equipment. Enjoy!

Dinging your favorite board is one of the worst feelings, fortunately Max has the cure. He provides…read morea super high quality repair that will leave your board as good as new, which he also guarantees! Max has fixed a huge variety of dings for me, on the rail, on the fin box, on the spine, on the tail and on the nose. He even fixed a partially buckled board that is now going strong. He is a legendary surfboard shaper so he really knows what he is doing. He always keeps his repairs true to the original shape of the board and as light as possible. All this for a very fair price. Be sure to check out the picture on his door of Max getting barreled at Puerto Escondido in the 70's.

I've been using Murrays my Hobie 16 & Hobie Wave parts for years. Starting with line kits,…read moremiscellaneous shackles and pins, shrouds all the way through life preservers & harnesses. The quality of the goodies is awesome. But the best thing is being able to reach out to Murrays and get some amazing tips, recommendations etc. when I get to some non-standard / more obscure line items. Thanks Murrays & Tom for keeping my boat in the water!

I would give less than 1 star if I could. I ordered an H18 traveler assembly from them about a…read moreyear and a half ago (alongside a lots of other parts and accs). It has been on backorder this entire time and still is. I finally found one at another shop online, so I called them and asked to cancel the order and refund it so I could get the ONE available elsewhere. These are hard to find. They said they would do it, but it might take a week or so as it is an old order. Now over two months later and after numerous e-mails and phone calls, I have been told basically, "Sorry, we can't refund it, accounting says it isn't possible". This is nonsense, it is a $200 part, the owner could refund me from petty cash or his own money and write off the expense. I will NEVER shop here again. This is literal theft, they took my money, never delivered the part and refuse to refund a cancelled order. Unbelievable!

The sweetest couple owns this antique shop. Definitely worth the visit! Ask Wayne about his…read moresurfboard collection.

This place seems like a good venue for a treasure hunt - go with an open mind and no pre-conceived…read morenotions, and you'll never know what you might find. On the other hand, we were there several days after the rainstorms which brought the terrible mudslides to Montecito (not far up the road). Everything smelled damp, musty, and even moldy. We had our friend with us, and she quickly noted several items dating back to our childhood era, which made her smile. I spotted a lot of surfing emphasis, from the many surfboards in the front entrance area, to a general vibe. Many of the items look like they need some love to get back to usefulness, but there were others that were ready to go, including dishes and glassware. Normally, I'd browse through the bookshelves, but they didn't seem to have much that was in my range of interest. Also, it was crowded in front of that area and hard to get to the shelves. There was a lot of stuff. A lot! Someone with a trash-to-treasure mindset could find many items to work with as creative fodder.

This is my go-to adventure on a sunny morning in Santa Barbara. I joined the monthly member club…read moreyears ago and would go kayak a few times a week. It is hard to maintain with my work schedule, so now I sneak in a workout every so often which is great because you can pay by the hour for any activity. Try the single, tandem kayaks or paddle boards. After you sign the waiver, you just got check in and put your things in the locker and walk to the dock. It's that easy. Grab your equipment and go! The latest workout included sea lions, pelicans, cranes, and waves from other boaters and water activists. Have a great time with friends or relax on your own. It's worth the fun!

I was searching online and happen to see there was a Groupon for this place which is a great deal…read morefor first timers. I had to call the store to figure out how to apply the Groupon code when booking. It took two tries as there are two codes on the Groupon but at least one of them for accepted. The place was easy to find once you find a parking space. That was a bit difficult either find a spot in the parking lot to the left or tiny parking lot in the right closer to the store. There are complementary lockers onsite to put your belongings in during the tour which was nice. The tour guide gives you a quick tutorial how to paddle for beginners. They go over the map where the tour will go and you are off. There was just 3 of us in the group and we got a choice to paddle out to the ocean or stay in the harbour. We went out to the sea. Our guide was super nice and took photos of us during the tour and emailed or can air drop them at the end. The views were nice as no clouds that morning. We saw a few sea lions and tons of birds. The only recommendation I can say is to update the description as one of the reasons I selected this place was because it was one of the few that advertised a tour for 2 hours. Our tour only lasted 1.5 hours.

Had another great day in the ocean for my second lesson, Noah was a great coach. The surf was a…read morelittle heavier this time, still it was a lot of fun. Noah was very personable and patient, we had a great conversation and I learned a couple of things. He even left me with some resources to look at if I continue surfing. Even if you are not very athletic or you are a little older (like me), you will have a good experience at Santa Barbara Surf School based on the lessons I had with Spencer and Noah.

We tried out a lesson with SBSS (Santa Barbara Surf School) at Mondos beach and left with a…read morepositive experience. Our instructor, Duncan, was a great instructor and person to hang out with / learn from. Duncan was able to communicate and teach my son and me in a great way, ensure we learned, had fun - and was able to adjust his teaching and convo to my 18yo teenage son and me as an adult. Duncan also just brought positive surf culture vibes and wasn't patronizing to us newbies. At the end of the session, we were able to catch waves on our own and had a great time. The board and wetsuit that we used were in good condition and made for a good experience. A few call outs for others to be aware of 1. Mondos beach access. You'll need to access the beach by way of a steep rocky area. Be careful and if SBSS asks you to carry your board down, please be careful or ask them to do it for you when in doubt. 2. Hours of operations Website says hours from Mar to Nov are from 9:30am - 5pm. We rented the boards and wetsuit thinking we would have it until 5pm but they said their last lesson ended at 2;30 and we needed to turn it in then. Please check in with them 3. No showers Bring some water to rinse off after you get out of your wetsuit.

James is an ABSOLUTELY AMAZING surf coach…read more James is knowledgeable, skilled and able to convey the spirit and stoke of surfing. He knows when to go and where to take you so you will have success. He is a wealth of information on equipment, mechanics, environment, and the mental and physical components of surfing. If you're interested in surf history and culture, as I was, he will also teach you a lot. I've worked with quite a few surf coaches, and James is the best. He is a phenomenal teacher. He teaches ocean safety, awareness and respect. He is excellent at breaking down moves. My sense is that he adjusts his teaching style to the student. I'm sure he is great at working with beginners, but he's also quite skilled at working with advanced beginner/intermediate surfers. As noted in several other reviews, James is communicative, committed and competent. He is super conscientious, he shows up early, and often goes overtime in order to give students best experience. Never got the sense he was looking at his watch, like with other coaches. And he's just delightful to work with, an incredibly down-to-earth and generous person, I feel super lucky to have gotten a chance to get coaching lessons from him. If you have an opportunity to work with him, you won't be disappointed!!

James is an amazing surf instructor. My 10-year-old son absolutely loved it. He definitely loves…read morewhat he does for a living and it shows. He was very personable and easy-going. We are looking forward to our next trip!