Torrance Outdoor Activities

According to Los Angeles magazine, brotherly duo Matt and Christian Shubin channeled their lifelong love of ocean sports into Poseidon Stand Up Paddle Boards, located walking distance from the pier. Their shop stocks all of the necessary gear for oceanic outings, including squat Starboard paddleboards that easily slice through the surf. Pro riders design and test-drive C4 Waterman boards before presenting them to amateurs, who propel watercraft with the store's inventory of lightweight but powerful carbon and fiberglass paddles. Accessories such as leashes, roof racks, and repair kits secure and beautify paddleboards without tacky layers of eye shadow. Customers may consult the expertise of an online board finder to pinpoint the right fit for their frames, aptitudes, and preferences.

The ocean-side city of Santa Monica, flush with food, culture, and history, provides ample fodder for Destination Food Tours’ signature outing. Led by a local guide, groups stroll to a succession of eateries such as Bar Pinxto, where chefs infuse tapas with traditional Spanish flavors. At MAKE—a completely raw restaurant—chef and author Matthew Kenney showcases the decadence of uncooked food, and at the tour’s final stop, N’ice Cream, scoops of organic gelato refresh taste buds and extinguish mustache fires.

Instructors at Pacific Sailing's ASA-certified sailing school teach a variety of students the basics of navigating coastal waters and instruct students in specialized types of sailing or in the students' greatest areas of interest. Captains lead group and private lessons that cover basic keelboat sailing, basic coastal cruising, bareboat chartering, and coastal navigation—providing the skills necessary to unfurl and tie a sail or navigate using electronics, the light of the stars, and directions from a well-traveled seagull. The instructors conduct their lessons and lead skippered day sails, sunset sails, and overnight trips at the helm of Colgate, Hunter, Catalina, Irwin, and Beneteau sailboats.

Although he climbed the corporate ladder at a sprinter's pace in his young life, Kirk Robinson understood the only place he belonged was out on the ocean. He was known to his coworkers as a superior business mind⎯that is, when they actually managed to find him at his desk and not at the beach windsurfing. So, after reading The Road Less Traveled and Do What You Love, the Money Will Follow, Kirk found the inspiration to start Captain Kirk's Inc. in 1992. He then quickly gathered a team that also possessed his passion for watersports, including his kiteboarding wife, Kitty, and set up shop.

Today he and his crew show others how to get the most out of the ocean through kiteboarding, windsurfing, and standup paddleboarding lessons. Additionally, Captain Kirk's retail includes all the supplies needed to master those three activities. Completing the trifecta, Kirk also owns La Ventana Resort, where guests can bask in the beauty of aqua waters, a private beach, and luxurious lodging while experiencing everything from sport fishing and scuba to kayaking, mountain biking, and whale watching.

From its breeze-swept outpost on Cherry Beach, Alfredo's Beach Shack affords guests renting various leisure watercraft easy access to open waters. Sailors can find solitary tranquility amid the gentle waves while paddling a single kayak, or they can enlist a friend or mannequin to share a tandem kayak. Mounted atop a standup paddleboard, seafarers can conquer the surf while feasting their eyes on sandy beaches dotted with expansive houses and swaying palm trees. The Shack also rents out gondolas for romantic jaunts on the sparkling water.

Helmed by two-time Manhattan Open winner Dave Mahoney, the tennis experts at South Bay Tennis Network help players hone their on-court prowess. Mahoney’s style of play emphasizes an attack style with serves and backhand topspin modeled in the style of Pete Sampras and a forehand and backhand slice like that of Roger Federer. Students learn to work toward specific, practical goals in their path to improvement.