Issue No. 5: Feeling Sort of Enlightened
A collection of places to learn something new across North County — surfing, pottery, ASL, chess, and more. No experience necessary, open minds encouraged.
ISSUE NO. 5 · NORTH COUNTY, SAN DIEGO
Feeling Sort of Enlightened
Maybe you've never learned to swim. Maybe you just moved out and can't yet make it through a meal that isn't cereal. Maybe there's just something you've always wanted to try and never had a reason to start. This is a collection of places to learn something new across North County. No experience necessary, open minds encouraged.
Use Your Hands and Mind
Music
Sort of Enlightened
Leading Note Studios
Encinitas & San Marcos
The largest music school in North County, and one of the few that's actually built something for adults instead of just tolerating them. Their San Marcos location has its own theatre, where adult students perform at recitals and open mic nights — first time on stage or returning to it after years away, it doesn't matter. No set class times either, so there's no excuse about your schedule.
Rate → Varies by instrument and lesson length · See adult lessons
"It's never too late to make music."
— Camille Hastings, Leading Note Studios
Pottery
Sort of Enlightened
Oceanside Pottery Club
Oceanside
Beginning Wheel, Hand Building, or a Combo Class that covers both — pick whichever sounds less intimidating and go from there. Note: there's a separate materials fee not included in the class price, so budget for that too.
Rate → Varies by course, plus a separate materials fee · See class schedule
Sort of Enlightened
Mudd House
Leucadia
A full working studio, not a one-off experience — private lessons, group classes, multi-week courses, open studio time. Plenty of people walk in for a single workshop and end up staying. Start with one class if you want to test the water. Stick around if you fall for it, which happens more often than not.
Rate → Varies by workshop; private lessons and memberships also available · Book a class
ASL
Sort of Enlightened
Palomar College
San Marcos
One of the largest ASL programs in Southern California, and as of July, more accessible than ever — Palomar just expanded its free-tuition Promise program to 3,500 students. Zero fluency required to walk in the door. That's the entire point of a beginning class.
Rate → Standard community college tuition, or free via Palomar Promise · See the ASL program
Cooking
Sort of Enlightened
Vista Adult School
Vista
A single evening, a full meal, and a room full of people who also don't know what they're doing yet. You don't need to already cook to sign up. You need to want to, which is the only requirement anyone's actually checking.
Rate → Affordable community ed pricing, varies by class · See class schedule
Chess
Sort of Enlightened
San Diego Chess & Social
Location varies weekly, currently Encinitas
The largest chess and board game club in the city. Roughly 70 percent chess, 30 percent everything else — UNO, backgammon, whatever's out that week. A lot of people who show up barely know how the pieces move. An actual Grandmaster shows up too, regularly.
Rate → Small drop-in fee, free with membership · Check current schedule and location
"It's really great for all levels, but also a great way to meet people and build friendships."
— Mark Laturno, co-founder, San Diego Chess & Social
Get Moving
Surfing
Sort of Enlightened
Mark Kaplan
Oceanside Pier
He's been teaching people to stand up on a board at the same lifeguard tower for over a decade, and one on one, it's a fraction of what the resort surf schools charge for a group lesson. No pressure to be good by the end of the hour. Just one more person who can say they surfed in Oceanside.
Rate → Hourly, one on one · Book a lesson
Sort of Enlightened
Helina Beck, Encinitas Surf Lessons
Encinitas, Carlsbad, Oceanside, Cardiff
If Kaplan is the no-frills option, Beck is the one for people who want more structure around their first time in the water — small private and semi-private lessons across four different beaches, tailored to how you actually learn. Costs more than a pier lesson. Also comes with more hand-holding, if that's what gets you back in a second time.
Rate → Private and semi-private lesson pricing available · Book a lesson
Skating
Sort of Enlightened
Oceanside Roller Skating
Martin Luther King Jr. Park
Every Friday, 6 to 8 p.m., free, lights and music included. Wobbly is expected. Falling is expected. Nobody there is judging you for either. Bring your own skates. If quad wheels or group skates aren't your thing, Oceanside's five public skateparks are open and free any day of the week — no schedule, no fee, no one to impress (pro tip: go at the crack of dawn if you want zero spectators)
Rate → Free · Follow for updates
Dancing
Sort of Enlightened
Dance North County
Encinitas
Actual beginner classes, actually labeled as such: Beginner Salsa on Wednesdays, Beginner Swing, Beginner Rockabilly, and Beginner Jitterbug on Mondays, Beginner Mambo on Thursdays, and Adult Ballet on Sundays. Thirty years in the same Encinitas studio, run by an instructor who's been teaching since 1975. Nobody's expecting you to already know the steps.
Rate → New student intro offers available · See class schedule
Driving
Sort of Enlightened
West Coast Driving School
Carlsbad
Not just for sixteen-year-olds. Adult lessons here are built for anyone who never got around to it, failed the test before, has a license but no real confidence behind the wheel, or just moved somewhere with roads that don't look anything like where they learned. One instructor, one student, a dual-controlled car, and they'll pick you up.
Rate → Check current pricing · See adult lessons
Go be bad at something new this week.
— The Sort