Coast Businesses See Clouds’ Silver Lining

It wasn’t picture postcard weather, that’s for sure--with cool temperatures and cloudy skies--but few complained Sunday as thousands of sun-weary inland residents made their way to Ventura County’s coastline for a summer respite after a four-day heat wave.

While temperatures sizzled near and above the 100-degree mark in Southern California’s valleys over the weekend, Ventura stayed in the 70s, luring out-of-towners from Bakersfield to Glendale.

“We complain because there’s no sun, but they love it,” said Robert Swaim, manager of Ventura’s 260-room Holiday Inn, which was booked to capacity over the weekend.

“I’ve seen more people than usual coming from the [San Fernando] Valley to get away from the heat.”

The 249 rooms at the Mandalay Beach Resort in Oxnard were sold out for the same reason.

“People just want to get away a day or two from L.A. and the heat,” said hotel manager Juergen Oswald.

John Regan, a lifeguard at San Buenaventura State Beach, said that even with overcast skies there were several thousand people on Ventura’s sunless beaches Sunday afternoon who didn’t seem to mind the clouds at all.

“They’re just happy to get out of the stifling heat,” Regan said. “It’s not that hot in Ventura, so people have been flocking here.”

Weather forecasters say temperatures in Ventura and at the coast will remain in the mid-70s this week, with low clouds lingering as they did Sunday. The recent hot spots--Ojai, Simi Valley and the San Fernando Valley--should expect a slight cooling in the next few days, with temperatures peaking in the low 90s rather than the triple digits of last week.

Debbie and Arne Oftedal drove nearly two hours to Ventura from Bakersfield to escape a weekend high temperature of 106 degrees.

“We like not seeing the sun for a while,” said Arne Oftedal. “It’s like Ventura is in a bubble and its own little world without the sun. It’s a relief and a nice change.”

Debbie Oftedal said she started calling Ventura hotels on Friday when it was 105 degrees in Bakersfield to plan her escape. She quickly learned she was not the only one with Ventura on her mind.

“The reservationists just started laughing at me,” she said. “We got lucky at the Motel 6 and were the last ones to get a room.”

Ventura was not the only place in Southern California offering cool ocean breezes. Meteorologist Jeff House from WeatherData Inc., a private forecasting service used by The Times, said a lack of offshore winds kept most of the coastal areas cool.

“This wasn’t a classic heat wave,” House said. “Right up to the beach, everyone is hot, but it’s been cool anywhere along the coast.”

But for Sergei Kostenko and his family, Ventura’s beaches were more appealing than Santa Monica’s, which enjoyed similar temperatures in the mid-70s on Sunday.

“It’s nicer and not as crowded here, and a little closer,” said Kostenko, who drove in from Santa Clarita.

But it was the overcast sky that Kostenko said was the best reason to head to Ventura.

“After a week of 110 degrees, you don’t really care about the sun. You want it to go away for a little,” he said.

In Ojai and Simi Valley, where the mercury stayed above 100 for three consecutive days and fell to the mid-90s on Sunday, people who couldn’t make the drive to the coast cooled off with trips to ice cream parlors and air-conditioned movie matinees.

Willem Boom made his way to San Buenaventura State Beach with his wife and young daughter, and it was about 20 degrees cooler than in his hometown of Valencia.

“Just trying to go for some free air conditioning,” he said. “And we’re happy there’s no sun, because we’re tired of being hot.”