Have you ever thought of the ocean as a way to get your daily exercise? PSC offers monthly paddling memberships that make it easy to slip into the water for up to 2 hours each day with your choice of kayak, SUP or surfboard. You’ll get a fantastic, full-body workout that will definitely feel like “me” time, without the hassle of hauling your wetsuit or gear. Surrounded by the mountains and the ocean, you’ll also expand your workout routine to include total immersion in nature, leaving you grounded, refreshed, and as research shows, healthier. Suitable for families, couples and singles, a PSC Paddling Membership is an easy, affordable way to elevate your workout, improve your health and increase your quality of life on a daily basis.
Reversing Nature Deficit Disorder
Our busy schedules and the infrastructure of our world often prevents us from communing with nature. We work and study long hours, and often move from home to car to building without placing a single foot on the grass. And we’re finding less and less opportunity to be outdoors. A 2017 study by DJ Case and Associates, in conjunction with state and federal wildlife and park agencies, surveyed 12,000 adults and children in the US. The majority of those surveyed said they’ve lost their connection with nature. These same adults expressed a strong desire to reconnect, but stated that their daily routines where they work, live and go to school generally did not encourage contact with nature.
Better Health Outdoors
Last year, a research team from the University of East Anglia’s Norwich Medical School gathered a massive amount of research from over 140 studies involving more than 290 million people from all over the globe to study the effect that nature has on humans. The evidence was clear – being in nature has significant and wide-ranging health benefits. Exposure to the great outdoors has been shown to reduce several health risks, including type ii diabetes, cardiovascular disease, premature death, preterm birth, stress, anxiety, high blood pressure, as well as showing lower cortisol levels. Connecting with nature also eliminates fatigue, enhances performance on creative tasks and improves the ability to focus. And when water is present, the positive effects are magnified.
An Elevated Workout
Paddling on the ocean is a total immersion in nature, providing the opportunity each day to commune, refresh and recharge, in addition to getting premium exercise. Kayaking, SUPing and even surfing are all low impact activities that improve your aerobic fitness, strength and flexibility while protecting wear and tear on joints and muscles.
When you’re kayaking, your arms, shoulders and chest are all worked from moving the paddle through the water, and the core and legs provide the power with torso rotation and downward pressure against the force of the paddle. With SUPing, the entire body is involved in the thrust of the paddle, and also in the constant fine-tuning of balance. Surfing provides a even more opportunity to work your balance and strengthen your core.
A PSC Family Paddling Membership is a wonderful way to share the joys of paddling and exercise with the whole family, and a great way for everyone to reset after a long day at school or work. And wouldn’t you rather work out in the ocean with the sun shining down on you, soaking up Vitamin D and watching for dolphins? It sounds better to us than a stale, sweaty gym any day.
Mix it Up as Often as you Like
The great thing about PSC’s Paddling memberships is that you can choose between kayaking, SUPing and surfing anytime. You can paddle across the shoreline in a kayak, stand-up-paddle out to the buoys to check out the sea lions, or if the waves are up and you’re feeling adventurous, you can grab a surfboard and jump in at Sandspit or Leadbetter. If you’re up in Goleta, you can drop in from our location at Goleta Beach. PSC also offers discounted lessons to members in each of our paddling disciplines to improve your form so you can get the most out of your daily paddling.
Added Bonus: the PSC Community and Members-Only Events
You get more than just daily paddling when you become a PSC monthly member – you also get a community of like-minded paddlers. As a current monthly member, you’ll get free Full Moon Paddles, free Yoga at Divinitree santa barbara, and access to our BBQs, Happy Hours, Mixers and other community gatherings. Your monthly dues also gives you free overnight rentals, free rental reservations, premium boards, carbon paddles and discounted lessons.
Click here to learn more and become a member.
DID YOU KNOW . . . .
We are the “Original” Paddling Memberships – Members Program
The concept of a monthly paddling membership originated with the founders of Paddle Sports Center in 2010. We were seeking out ways to get more people out on the water and share the joy of paddling, and the idea came to us to model ourselves after a monthly gym membership, offering kayaks and surf boards instead of treadmills and stationery bikes. We became the first company in the nation to offer a monthly paddling membership.
Not only was the idea embraced by the Santa Barbara community, but it spread throughout surf and kayak rental companies throughout the region. We enthusiastically supported this expansion and offered management training, information, and anything else we could lend to our communal cause of sharing the oceans with more people.
Today, almost a decade later, monthly memberships are a fixture for many paddling communities throughout the country. We’re so proud to have come up with the idea and started the trend. It’s our mission in action!
“The system they have for their locals to rent with a membership is amazing! I stopped by his shop to learn more about how I can better operate my own small paddleboard tour business and all I can say is that these guys DO IT RIGHT! Go with the business that provides quality equipment, trained, certified staff and a true passion for the water.”— SUPAtitlan Founder, Guatemala
