Week 4 Recap: Healthy Competition at Sunrise Surf Camp | LA Kids Surf Camp

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<title>Fourth of July &amp; Leadership Week Recap | Sunrise Surf Academy</title>
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<header class="masthead">
  <div class="masthead-inner">
    <p class="eyebrow">Week 05 <span class="sep">//</span> Leadership <span class="sep">//</span> Jun 30 – Jul 4</p>
    <h1>Flags, Foam &amp; <em>Stepping Up</em></h1>
    <p class="standfirst">We marched in the Santa Monica Fourth of July parade, chased tide pools at Will Rogers, built cities of sand at Venice, and watched a whole lot of young surfers decide to lead.</p>
  </div>
</header>
<div class="bunting" role="presentation"></div>
 
<main class="wrap">
 
  <div class="ledger">
    <span>Theme: Leadership</span>
    <span>Locations: Palisades + Venice</span>
    <span>Weeks left: 9</span>
  </div>
 
  <p class="lede">Some weeks you just know are going to be special before they start. Week 5 landed right on the Fourth of July, and between the parade, the swell, the tide pools, and the ice cream, it turned into one of those weeks the campers will still be talking about at Thanksgiving.</p>
 
  <p>Leadership was our theme, and it showed up everywhere. Not the loud kind of leadership. The real kind: the camper who paddles back out to help a friend who got tumbled. The one who volunteers to go first when the set looks a little bigger than yesterday. The one who notices someone sitting alone at lunch and waves them over. That was our week.</p>
 
  <div class="stop">
    <div class="num">01</div>
    <div class="label">
      <span class="kicker">Saturday, July 4</span>
      <h2>We Marched in the Santa Monica Parade</h2>
    </div>
  </div>
 
  <p>Boards up, sunscreen on, stoke at maximum. The Sunrise Surf Academy crew took to the streets for the <strong>Santa Monica Fourth of July parade</strong>, and it was every bit as fun as it sounds. Campers, coaches, and families walked the route together waving to the crowd, the whole thing a big rolling celebration of our little beach community.</p>
 
  <p>There's something pretty special about a surf school marching inland for a day. Different kind of wave to ride. Thank you to Santa Monica for having us, and to every family who came out to walk with us or cheer from the curb.</p>
 
  <div class="stop">
    <div class="num">02</div>
    <div class="label">
      <span class="kicker">Will Rogers State Beach</span>
      <h2>Tide Pools, Bus Rides &amp; a Volleyball Showdown</h2>
    </div>
  </div>
 
  <p>Week 5 at Will Rogers was one for the memory books. We had campers rolling in from <strong>East LA on the bus</strong>, which is always one of our favorite parts of the summer — new faces, big energy, and kids seeing the Palisades coastline for the first time.</p>
 
  <p>The ocean cooperated beautifully. We had <strong>unbroken waves for days</strong>, the kind of long, clean, forgiving rides that let a brand-new surfer feel like a pro and let an experienced one work on their turns. Between sessions, we explored the tide pools, where campers found more sea life than we could name.</p>
 
  <p>And we capped the whole thing off the way every great week should end: <strong>ice cream and a volleyball showdown</strong> against our friends at Sunshine Beach Volleyball Camp. Everyone was shredding, the vibes were through the roof, and nobody wanted to go home.</p>
 
  <ul>
    <li>Campers bussing in from East LA</li>
    <li>Tide pool exploration between surf sessions</li>
    <li>Long, unbroken waves all week long</li>
    <li>Ice cream + volleyball vs. Sunshine Beach Volleyball Camp</li>
  </ul>
 
  <p class="pull">This is what summer camp is all about.</p>
 
  <div class="stop">
    <div class="num">03</div>
    <div class="label">
      <span class="kicker">Venice Beach</span>
      <h2>Big Waves &amp; Sandcastle Cities</h2>
    </div>
  </div>
 
  <p>Down at Venice, Leadership week brought out the absolute best in our campers. The surf showed up with <strong>big waves</strong> that gave everyone something to rise to, and our coaches watched kids push past what they thought they could do — then turn around and talk a nervous friend into trying it too. That's the whole theme in one moment.</p>
 
  <p>On the sand, it was <strong>sandcastle building for days</strong>. Full architectural operations. Moats, towers, the works. We ran games all week designed to make someone step up and take charge, and it was so cool to see quieter campers find their voice and discover they had it in them the whole time.</p>
 
  <p>Another week in the books. 🤙</p>
 
  <h2>What Leadership Week Taught Us</h2>
 
  <p>Surfing is a strange sport to learn leadership in. There's no coach shouting from the sideline once you're on the wave. It's just you, the ocean, and the choices you make. That's exactly why it works. Every camper who paddled out this week made dozens of small decisions about courage, patience, and looking out for the people around them.</p>
 
  <p>We're proud of every one of them. Watching a kid go from unsure on Monday to leading the paddle-out cheer on Friday never, ever gets old.</p>
 
  <h2>The Summer Rolls On</h2>
 
  <p>We're just past the halfway mark, and there's a lot of great stuff still ahead. Coming up we've got Environmental Impact &amp; Tides, Confidence &amp; Trust, Teamwork, Creativity, and of course the legendary <strong>Party Wave Week</strong> to close things out before our final Recap of Summer week.</p>
 
  <p>Camps run weekly at both <strong>Will Rogers State Beach (Pacific Palisades)</strong> and <strong>Venice Beach</strong> for ages 5–16, all skill levels, right through <strong>September 5th</strong>.</p>
 
  <div class="cta">
    <h2>Spots Are Going Fast</h2>
    <p>We've sold out multiple days already this summer, and the back-half weeks are filling quickly. If you've been waiting for the right week to get your kid in the water, this is it.</p>
    <p><a href="https://www.sunrisesurfacademy.com/camps">Explore all our camps and weekly themes</a>, or grab a spot right now.</p>
    <a class="btn" href="https://www.sunrisesurfacademy.com/camps/booking">Book Your Week</a>
  </div>
 
  <p class="footnote">
    Sunrise Surf Academy runs kids' summer surf camps and <a href="https://www.sunrisesurfacademy.com/lessons">surf lessons</a> for all ages at Will Rogers State Beach in Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica, and Venice Beach in Los Angeles, California. Small groups, CPR &amp; First Aid certified coaches in the water at all times, and a whole lot of stoke. Camp runs weekly through September 5th, 2026.
    <br><br>
    See you on the beach — <strong>The Sunrise Crew</strong>
  </p>
 
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Fourth of July & Leadership Week Recap | Sunrise Surf Academy