We met Ally at the pier and she was the best vibe ever! We had so much fun at the pier she brought…read moreall vibes and encouraged us to let out creativity flow. Shes the best! So happy we ran into her today!!!

We did a date night paint night here and connected in a way we haven't in years. It was a really…read morelovely night. I'm on their website to but another night for my guys birthday.

Both of my kids have attended Nature throughout their childhood. They love going out on these…read moreexploratory missions and being kids away from paper learning and classrooms more than anything else. It gives them a sense of purpose and happiness and they feel accomplished. We've attended both full-time, part-time and as a camp resource when school is out. And we did pre-school through elementary with LA Nature. It's run by competent, highly selective and well-trained teams and even though it is hard leaving your children with other people driving across this vast county every day, it has been well worth it and we're glad we did it.

We had the BEST 2nd bday party at My Gym this weekend! So many fun games like forts, mazes,…read morezipline, ball pit, trampolines. Coaches Graham and Ellie were amazing with all the kids! My Gym makes the logistics easy too. My 2yo and 3.5yo also love the normal classes and Parents Night Out monthly sessions. Coach Jeremy is so fun!

My daughter absolutely loves it here!!! She has become a little social butterfly because of this…read moreclass. I also will be recommending this location for kids birthday parties. I got so much positive feedback about how much fun the party was. I want to say thank you to coach Z and Jeremy for making my daughter's party super special.

Fitness by the sea is the absolute BEST camp! My kids have been going since they were old enough…read moreand the could not love it more! It's the only camp that is non negotiable for them every summer! They have so much fun with the other kids and adore the camp counselors! They come home each day exhausted and so so happy. Their confidence in the water has grown so much thanks to this camp! A must in LA!

Fitness by the Sea is hands down the best camp on the Westside. Our son loves it and says when he's…read moreold enough, he will be a camp counselor. The camp is everything you could want for your child and more. The counselors are attentive, friendly and kind. The owner is all of these things and more. He is responsive and accommodating which is a rarity in this day and age. If I could give 10 stars I would. Amazing camp!

Hosted a birthday party here for a kid. Staff was helpful, friendly and responsive with planning…read more They were great with the kids and families. Fun venue!

smallest aquarium but it was still worth a visit as you visit the pier. go on Groupon to get…read moretickets for discount!!! * you can see baby moon jellyfish and the learn of the growing systems. * touch tanks of different kinds if starfishes.

Realm is a place like no other -- if you can't imagine middle-schoolers being caring with each…read moreother or can't imagine a community (including students) that doesn't tolerate bullying, then you might want to take a look at Realm. Realm asks: what if students could love learning, embrace challenges, and be active in creating a strong community because they want, not because the teachers tell them to?! As a former tenured professor, I can safely say that I have no worries about how well my kids will be prepared for college and beyond. I love Realm -- the only danger is that once kids come to Realm, it's hard to get them to leave.

The Realm has been an amazing place for my son to grow, learn, and thrive! The teachers are caring…read moreand so dedicated to making every student feel valued. They all love what they teach and it shows. There are so many fun and unique classes such as philosophy, film making, and improv comedy. There are also traditional classes such as math and science but they are made to be fun and engaging. You can choose what works best for your child. The Realm is truly a magical place and I feel so lucky that we found this school!

If you are serious about your child's music education and are contemplating this camp, please read…read moreon. We had been excitedly about the Santa Monica Music Camp for my almost 6 year-old son, but the reality turned out to be far different from what was advertised. Before the camp, we as parents were asked to complete a form to indicate the child's instrument. I selected keyboard/piano because that's what my son had been playing since he was younger, and I thought this week at the camp would be a great opportunity for him to hone his existing piano skills. However, I found out later in the week that my son had actually been playing guitar, completely different from what I had signed him up. The problem lies in non-disclosure about the switch of music instrument from their advertisement materials or pre-camp forms. In *none* of the forms does it state that your child might play a completely different instrument than the one that the parent had indicated. I wrote to the director but received no response. One staff told me "whatever instrument the child wants to play, they can play that." One staff member pointed to the language on the website that the child can experience all sorts of instrument as the reason that they don't need to inform parents if the child switches the instrument than the one for which the parent had signed the child up. The staff do not ensure that each child plays 3 hours of music, as advertised: What drew us to this place is that on the advertisement, it states "your child will enjoy playing music 3 hours". This sounded incredible since many of us parents needed to cajole our kid to practice their instruments at home. But, what one staff member informed me was that, "if you child does not feel like playing the instrument, we don't make them play the instrument." Okay, I understand that it can be difficult to encourage a reluctant child to play an instrument, but there seems to be general lack of effort to encourage reluctant children to engage, to actual play music. I was told that if the child walks away during rehearsal, the staff will just let the child walk away and do other things. When I asked, "then it is possible that they could learn nothing because they are not practicing?" The staff responded, "Ma'am, this is a camp. If you want your child to learn something, you should sign up for our individual lessons." I was dismayed at the attitude of the staff member who kept emphasizing that this is a *camp*, effectively asking me to not have much expectation of what my child would learn from the music camp. It seems that they do not pay much attention to the learning objectives of the campers, unless we sign up for individual lessons. Recital: The music camp touts itself for the end-of-the-week recital. However, you need to be aware that your child might not be in the recital. First of all, no audience is allowed at the recital. Second, after the recital, along with the videos of the recital that the staff sends out, the staff email states that "If your child is not featured in the instrument recital, it is because THEY made the personal decision to opt out. We did not want to force any kids to participate if they did not want to." This needs to be made transparent and known to the parents *before* the recital and in the advertisement materials. Other things that I wished I had known before signing up for Santa Monica music camp: --Early care and late care/ AM-PM care (before 9 and after 3pm) It currently costs $10/hour. Sounds great and affordable. However, early and late care is literally TV-care! They have a large television area where the TV is on with a bunch of seats around it. And I see the early care kids all sitting around the television, with little engagement from the staff. Late care? Same thing. It should be renamed "TV-care." --General level of disorganization: The school makes a binder for every child. My child's binder was missing the first day, and no one knows what happened to it. I was promised that his re-made binder would have music sheets in it. However, the whole week went by without any music sheets. Overall, the reality is a far cry from the advertisement. Unfortunately, my son did not learn much from this experience. Even though it was one week, it was one week of precious time lost. If you have a child on the younger side (5,6,7), I do not recommend this camp for the reasons above. They seems to be understaffed to teach the instruments, and some (not all) staff do not seem to have the motivation to help re-direct the younger children. There were some staff member who tried to address my concerns, such as David, which I appreciate. However, there were other staff members who unfortunately do not have any expectations or goals for our children.

My son has been going to Santa Monica Music Camp for the last 3 years and loves it. He doesn't…read morewant to do any other camps. They have so much fun playing their music and learning theory in a fun and relaxed environment. They really get to enjoy learning music and playing their instruments without the stress and pressure of school. He is already looking forward to going again this summer. I love the added bonus of him getting so much extra Cello practice in. I barely have to bug him to practice over the summer! I highly recommend this camp if you have a child interested in music.

My wife and I recently took a class here called "Date Night: Spanish Tapas." The class taught us…read morehow to make several Spanish dishes including Spinach and Manchego Croquetas, Pan Con Tomate and Jamon Serrano, Tortilla Espagnola, and Pork Belly with Membrino Glaze. I'll be completely honest. I was not excited about taking this class. I hate cooking food as much as I love eating it. But the wife dragged me out here anyway. So what's my verdict? As my rating indicates, I was completely wrong about this class. It was a fun experience from start to finish. Chef May did a fantastic job walking us through how to prepare each dish before releasing us to our own individual stations, easing my concern that I would screw things up. When we needed any assistance, she was right there to jump in and provide support. I would be amiss if I didn't mention the best part of the class which is eating the food we made. Every dish was delicious. I especially loved the Pan Con Tomate and Jamon Serrano, and Pork Belly with Membrino Glaze. I would definitely recommend taking a class here. If they could make a guy like me who hates cooking enjoy the experience, they must be doing something right. We'll be back very soon for an encore. We're signed up for the Pan Pizza class. Looking forward to it!

My partner and I took this cooking class as a date experience. While our chef was truly wonderful,…read morekind, welcoming, and very professional, the overall class didn't meet our expectations for the price. The class structure made it hard to learn honestly. instead of cooking step by step together, all instructions were given at once and we were left to cook independently, which was overwhelming and difficult to remember details like which ingredients to add/when, how long to cook things for and proper technique, especially for beginners. A power outage that required sharing burners added to the disorganization. We were also surprised to be required to share ingredients (including raw meat) with someone we didn't know across from us, which felt awkward for an expensive date experience. There was no clear wrap up at the end, and people began eating and leaving without much direction. Again our chef was great, and we enjoyed the stories and history behind the dishes, but overall the cooking lesson experience didn't match the cost or the hands on learning we were expecting.