Ocean Academy

I’ve been involved in Ocean Academy for four or five years now! I started out as a camper who had surfed for a while and learned a lot more, currently I’m an assistant after working my way up. Ocean Academy has helped me gain confidence in the ocean & teach me my limits. For the past two years I also attended the Cultural Impact trip in Hawaii & have learned so much along with meeting new people. Cage diving with sharks, snorkeling in Sharks Cove, visiting museums, surfing, watching in amazement at pipeline & other huge surf spots and much more were all activities I got to take part in. Along with this, I managed to do at least one thing a day out of my comfort zone which showed me that I am capable of many things. All in all, Ocean Academy is an amazing camp that teaches people so many things, not only surfing but ocean awareness, social skills, and most importantly life lessons and ocean safety.

We initially contacted Dylan through a trusted friend’s referral for private surf instructions for our 8 year old. We could not be happier! As a teacher, Dylan is positive, thorough, responsive to both child and parent, and passionate about all things surf and ocean related. As any of you with kids know, children are not always responsive with details when you ask questions about their day. However, my daughter talks about EVERYTHING she learns from Dylan. I’m beginning to think she listens more to him than me:) At the same time, I see her confidence growing on the board and in the water.
We also enrolled in the full-​day one week surf camp and it was well worth the money. In addition to surf, they learned safety techniques, enjoyed dissecting a squid by hand, and learned about the ocean environment first hand. On the last day, the kids were unable to surf because the rain storm had caused the creek to breach the sand berm. Dylan and his crew took that opportunity to discuss and show first-​hand the effect of pollution run-​off into the ocean. I would say the day was a success for the kids, even though it was negative for the ocean.
Finally, I am impressed with the young group of kids who volunteer their time to help with camp. They serve as good role models for the younger kids. Also, it is a testament to Dylan’s character that they show up for him. So, many thanks to Dylan, Benito and crew! You all rock!
I think it’s time I take my own lesson!

We contacted Dylan a few months before our trip to California to setup a surf lesson for our family of four. He stayed in touch as our date approached for our lesson and scheduled the best time considering the weather and surf. They provided the boards and wetsuits when we met at Doheney beach.
Benito and Sarah were our instructors and were very patient the entire day. We started with instruction on the beach and quickly hit the water. Lots of laughs as we all tumbled a few times working on our balance. All 4 of us got up on the board on the first lesson!
I highly recommend contacting Ocean Academy for private lessons or their famous Jr Waterman program. The personalized service and excellent instruction trumps any other option in the Dana Point area.

After moving to the beach I knew I had to put my son through an Ocean Safety camp. I searched so many of them and many of the camps had 100+ kids.
A friend told me about Ocean Academy and I found the classes were very small. It was a bit more money but I didn’t want to put a $ on my sons life.
Today is his last day of Junior Waterman/​Surf (Safety class) and he LOVED it. I loved the fact it was under 10 kids with 2 instructors and 3 aids. He learned about spinal cord injury prevention, several rescue techniques, how important eating healthy and drinking water is to your body, swam in the kelp forest, giggle crack (lol), kayaked,
dissected a squid, learned about the deep sea on a seado (Not 30 kids squished on a boat) the list goes on, it was truly amazing and worth every penny.
Thank you Dylan and Benito you did a great job focusing on each child’s strengths, building their self esteem and making the week unforgettable! Great things happen with we do what were passionate about! God bless, Jacque