A Day at the Beach

Students at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) have a plethora of options when it comes to recreational activities. From club sports such as rugby, ice hockey and volleyball, or instructional classes such as martial arts, rock climbing or yoga, UCLA Recreation offers a little something for everyone.

Being located a stones throw from the Pacific Ocean also has its benefits when it comes to programming. The Marina Aquatic Center (MAC) is UCLA’s premier waterfront recreation facility, located 10 miles from campus in Marina del Rey, California.

At the MAC students and community members can rent various aquatic equipment, take classes or private lessons in a wide variety of water sports, such as kayaking, stand up paddle boarding, surfing, rowing, windsurfing and sailing. According to Nora Lee, UCLA Marina Aquatic Center supervisor, the women and men’s rowing team at UCLA also use the facility.

Even though heading down to the ocean for an afternoon of relaxation sounds like the perfect getaway from the stress of school, Lee explains one of the biggest challenges it getting students to visit the MAC.

“We are about 20 minutes from the UCLA campus,” said Lee. “It is a challenge getting the UCLA students to our facility since most of them do not have cars. So we do help students set up car pools with other students.”

When students do make it down to the MAC, Lee said one of the most popular activities in kayaking. Students can rent sit-on-top kayaks for free for two hours. When it comes to classes, Lee added usually 25 percent enrollment in classes is UCLA students. In order to increase awareness of MAC services, Lee said they are presently working on a marketing campaign.