Soft lighting, intention, and a focus on health define the work at Morro Bay Massage Therapy. Inside the studio, an anatomical muscle chart takes up a wall, and conversations revolve around mobility, injury, and recovery. For Helena Quintanar, the owner and massage practitioner, massage therapy is about care.
“This is health work,” she said. “People come in because something hurts, and they need help.”
As the city of Morro Bay moves forward with a proposed ordinance to regulate massage establishments, Quintanar has emerged as a vocal supporter of regulation—with reservations. While she agrees that oversight is necessary, she wants massage therapy regulated as health care rather than treated as an issue for law enforcement.
“I want regulation,” Quintanar said. “I just want it to come from a place of understanding, not suspicion.”
In November, Morro Bay Police Chief Amy Watkins introduced a proposed ordinance that would establish local licensing requirements, operational standards, and inspection authority for massage businesses and technicians. The city has 16 massage establishments but does not currently have a municipal code allowing local regulations of those businesses, Watkins told New Times in an email.
“This ordinance is being brought forward to City Council to provide for the orderly regulation of massage establishments and to prevent and discourage the misuse of massage therapy as a front for illicit activities in violation of state law,” she said.
Similar ordinances are already in place in other San Luis Obispo County cities, including San Luis Obispo, Pismo Beach, Paso Robles, and Grover Beach, she explained. Watkins said the goal is to create consistent standards and give the city clearer authority to respond to complaints.
Quintanar does not dispute the city’s desire for oversight, but she believes a law enforcement-centered model risks reinforcing a harmful narrative that conflates massage therapy with criminal activity.
“Massage therapy already struggles with stigma,” she said.
She argues that oversight modeled after public health inspections—similar to those used for tattoo studios—would better reflect the reality of massage therapy as a licensed profession.
“Health departments focus on sanitation, documentation, and safety,” Quintanar said. “For the tattoo industry, they have to have a book at the front desk … that says what permits they have, if they’ve done their bloodborne pathogen training, each person who works there, what the rules and regulations are. The massage industry can benefit from that.”
Massage therapy in California exists under a mix of state law and local regulation. Practitioners can legally work as massage practitioners with 200 hours of training, while 500 hours are required to become certified through the California Massage Therapy Council (CAMTC). That higher threshold often costs thousands of dollars in financial investment.
The proposed Morro Bay ordinance would require massage therapists to meet the CAMTC certification or qualify for a limited grandfathering exception verified by the police chief. The exception is designed for long-standing practitioners who meet specific training and background criteria.
Quintanar supports certification but worries about how quickly changes could affect working therapists.
“People don’t realize how many good therapists could disappear overnight if the rules change too fast,” she said. “Not because they’re unqualified, but because they can’t afford the time or money to reach 500 hours.”
According to CAMTC CEO Ahmos Netanel, therapists who were certified under a former 250-hour tier can continue renewing their certification every two years. However, that tier closed to new applicants in 2015, and all new certifications now require 500 hours of training from an approved school.
As of Jan. 1, California formally recognizes CAMTC certificate holders as health care providers.
Locally, Morro Bay’s ordinance would require certification or qualification under a grandfathering provision.
“Someone in my situation who had children very young, who is a single mother and cannot—and had to work two or three jobs to even survive—cannot take their entire time to do a 500-hour program that takes almost full-time schooling,” Quintanar said.
Her path into massage therapy was shaped by observation and experience. Quintanar previously worked in the body art industry and later owned a massage business in the city of San Luis Obispo, managing licensed therapists while working in another field. Over time, she watched many therapists cycle out of the profession due to physical strain.
“It’s incredibly demanding work,” she said. “You have to learn how to take care of yourself or you won’t last.”
After selling that business in 2019 and stepping away during the pandemic, Quintanar returned to the field with a different vision. She opened Morro Bay Massage Therapy in February 2023 with a sustainability-focused model: fewer clients, longer sessions, and an emphasis on therapeutic outcomes rather than volume.
Two-hour sessions range from $250 to $300 after tip, allowing therapists to earn a living without overworking themselves.
Clients often seek relief from chronic pain, sports injuries, and long-term tension, Quintanar explained. Many of her clients travel from outside Morro Bay after struggling to find consistent, therapeutic care elsewhere.
“When people find something that works, they stick with it,” Quintanar said.
Education and transparency are central to her practice. Clients are shown how specific muscles contribute to their pain and how movement patterns affect recovery. The approach is clinical, informed, and calm.
For Quintanar, the city’s ordinance represents a chance to better align policy with the reality of massage therapy.
“Massage therapy is skilled labor,” she said. “If we want the public to see us as professionals, the rules need to reflect that.”
She worries the ordinance could unintentionally push out smaller or older establishments if therapists can’t meet certification requirements or don’t qualify for grandfathering.
“These numbers aren’t abstract,” she said. “They’re people’s livelihoods.”
Quintanar envisions a regulatory system that prioritizes public health and transparency rather than suspicion.
“There’s a lot of different ways that that the government can help the illicit part not be a big issue … simply by having the health department do the regulations,” she said. “That is 110 percent my belief.”
The Morro Bay City Council is scheduled to next discuss the proposed ordinance on Jan. 27, according to Watkins. ∆
Reach Staff Writer Chloë Hodge at chodge@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Jan 15-22, 2026.