Holly La Masters is no stranger to the water – she loves swimming in rivers and occasionally surfs. But about five years ago, she found herself spending a lot of time sitting on the beach watching her children surfing, and decided to get in the water herself, this time on a boogie board. And she discovered something that was not just fun, but more purely joyful than other outdoor experiences, like hiking, that comes with a sense of purpose. “Bodyboarding is really freeing,” she says. “It taps into a very pure, childlike experience. It’s one of those rare things that adults can do that has such silliness; it creates a sense of childlike freedom.”
Unlike surfing, boogie boarding or bodyboarding (synonymous – the boogie board was an early trademark) requires less technical skill and less specific ocean conditions. While there are serious bodyboarders, including pros, it’s also something kids or inexperienced water people can do and still have fun. La Masters goes out even when it’s flat, just to spend time in the ocean and float on her back with her legs wrapped around her board, what she calls “sea ottering.”
Her love for it spread to other moms who’d been sitting on the beach, and they began a regular after-work moms boogie boarding group at Casa Verde on Monterey State Beach. While that dissolved during Covid, La Masters says she’s hoping to revive the regular get-togethers. [SR]