They took to the sand and surf, strolling along the water line or riding waves toward shore.
Beachgoers in two coastal Orange County towns celebrated the opening of their beloved beaches after their restricted use plans got the green light Monday from state officials.
For Laguna Beach residents, Tuesday morning was the first time they’ve been able to step foot on city sands in about six weeks. The city beaches in San Clemente had opened briefly for limited use before Gov. Gavin Newsom closed the Orange County coast. It’s beach opened back up Monday afternoon after also getting the go-ahead from the state.
The simple act of going to the beach has been embroiled in a political fight – and has also made it to the courts – after Newsom last week closed the entire 42 miles of Orange County’s coast after crowds showed up at select beaches during a recent heat wave.
There were rules to follow as the two beach towns officially opened: Laguna’s beaches are only open 6 to 10 a.m. weekday mornings and both cities are only allowing active use such as walking, exercising and surfing. Laying down a towel on the sand and hanging out, for example, is not allowed.
Laguna was Orange County’s first city to close its beaches on March 23. Tuesday morning was an opportunity for hundreds to come out, squish their toes in the sand or catch some waves.
At popular spots like Thalia and St. Anns street beaches more than 50 surfers and skimboarders were in the water just after 6 a.m.
Jude Young, a 13-year-old skimboarder from Laguna Beach, couldn’t stop running into the surf.
He said he jumped out of bed at 5:45 a.m. to make it to the beach by 6 a.m. By 6:30, he was all over the surf taking advantage of skim conditions he labeled “good and consistent.”
“There’s a west swell and a short wave period,” he said. “It’s good skim and surf conditions.”
Just up the beach, Casey Williams and Burke Sorensen, both of Laguna Beach, were drying off after taking their longboards out.
“It’s pretty refreshing,” said Williams, 16, who also got to the beach by 6 a.m. “It gets out a lot of built-up tension. We wanted to come down and get the full four hours.”
Onshore others ran, many walked their dogs and some enjoyed their morning coffee.
Tammy Martinez, of Laguna Hills, and Laurel Flinn, of Laguna Woods, were also among the first at Main Beach shortly after 6 a.m.
“We knew not a lot of people would be around this early,” said Flinn. “We only live four miles away. This is our home.”
For Martinez, who operates Laguna Cafe in Laguna Woods, the beach provided a bit of respite. For weeks now, she’s been struggling to keep her business afloat. She credits her husband, Richard Martinez, who shifted job titles from general manager to head chef, for keeping the business afloat.
“We love to walk, we came here all the time before the closure,” she said.
Lauren Kirkland, of Laguna Beach, was so excited about coming back to the beach she said she dreamed about her Tuesday morning outing even before it happened.
“It’s kind of like a kid at Christmas,” she said. “It’s been almost two months since I’ve been down here.”
Kirkland commended the phased approach Laguna Beach is taking, starting with limited hours for recreation.
“I think it was really good,” she said. “So many people come to our beaches – which is good for businesses – but it also increases the risk for people to get sick. This lets people get out for their sanity and keeps it under control.”
Wendy Crimp, a registered nurse, was also out to enjoy the morning. Like Kirkland, she was happy that the city shut down the beaches early during the pandemic.
“Back then, data on COVID was looking worse and more dangerous,” she said. “Now, it’s still serious, but it’s important to respond to new data. This is going to take a long time and we have to learn to live with this. We need good social distancing and sanitation measures.”
The next few days, as another high-pressure system descends on the area and brings triple-digit heat to inland areas, will be telling. Will people stay at home and keep to their own neighborhoods to get outdoors or flock to a cooler ocean breeze at the few stretches of coast open, creating bottlenecks of crowds that cram into neighborhoods searching for parking as they did a two weeks ago?
San Clemente had already opened after a two-week shut down, allowing for limited use, when it fell into Newsom’s umbrella closure for Orange County. The city, like Laguna Beach, quickly filed plans to show how they would mitigate crowds and were given the green light on Monday to reopen by the state.
San Clemente surfer Kevin Tran found a spot on the northside of the pier Tuesday morning surfing red waves still murky from a plankton bloom that has been lingering for weeks creating neon whitewash at night. Tran caught a wave and shot the pier, ending up on the south side of the structure as the wave ended.
“Honestly, I’m so happy. This is my identity to be a surfer,” he said. “To not have that sometimes is really hard.”
He usually surfs T-Street, but that spot was dotted with surfers just south of the pier. Tran, like others, is trying to navigate uncharted waters of where he’s allowed to surf and deciding where to surf based on crowd size.
“I was trying to be respectful, but also trying to hold on to what I have,” he said. “I couldn’t handle it way longer.”
Stacie Vaughn made the trek down to the sand with her three young children, stopping for a second to let two of her kids, 3 and 6, play in the sand and in the surf line, while her 5-month-old stayed in the stroller.
“We stop, they play, and we keep moving,” she said.
It was the perfect way for her to celebrate her 32nd birthday on Tuesday, to get out of the house and enjoy what Southern California is known for – its beaches.
The word that comes to mind? Rejuvenated.
“I’m going insane. We’ve literally done every craft, every Disney movie they want to watch,” she said. “We’ve done it all. We’re maxed out on indoor time.”
Surfer Chris Prussak sat on the sand, sipping on a cup of coffee before he hit the surf, a routine he’s done for 20 years. He was glad the city opened back up after having to shut down over the weekend.
“I think it’s great, it’s a good start,” he said. “We’re lucky to live by the beach, the ocean, it’s beautiful… I think people are being responsible out there.”
His hope is that more beaches open to avoid the crowds flocking to the small number of beaches still open.
“The less that are open, the more impact everywhere else,” he said. “To me, that’s not common sense. We need to open up more beaches. We need common sense. They should keep these beaches open. They need to open up all the parks and all the beaches, I think it’s ridiculous.”
Prussak was also irked at the “approved” activities the governor’s office put out last week – with the list including things like watching the sunset, kitesurfing or exploring tidepools – saying he feels like he’s being treated like a kid.
“I’ll enjoy my own things I want to enjoy – I want to enjoy this,” he said of the surf. “I don’t want you to tell me what I can enjoy and not enjoy. I’m a big boy. I know how to enjoy things in my life.”
Here’s some of the rules at the now-open beaches:
Laguna Beach:
The city’s beaches include 5.5 miles that go from Treasure Island to the city’s northern city limits, excluding Emerald Bay. Laguna Beach lifeguards and Laguna Beach police will be tasked with overseeing compliance.
Each weekday, Laguna’s beaches and ocean water will close at 10 a.m. Those who stay longer or show up on weekends could be fined up to $1,000, or arrested.
Tuesday’s opening in Laguna is the first of four phases that increasingly add to the beach’s use. Phase 2 would allow limited beach hours on weekdays and weekends for active use; Phase 3 would include regular hours on weekdays and weekends for active use; and Phase 4 would be the return to regular hours on weekdays and weekends for active and passive use of the beach.
The opening in Laguna Beach does not include the sands supervised by the county starting at Aliso Beach to Thousand Steps.
San Clemente:
Beach signs caution that the coast has been deemed an “exercise zone only,” with no chairs, sunbathing, umbrellas or canopies, coolers, sitting, shoreline fishing or games. All beach public restrooms are closed.
All public beach parking lots remain closed and adjoining residential streets restricted to a resident permit parking only program as appropriate.
San Clemente, in collaboration with the state, proposes to open all city beaches to all uses, while maintaining physical distancing and not allowing the gathering of large groups, with Stage 3 of the governor’s reopening plan, with ordinary access and use of the community beaches with Stage 4 of the state’s guidelines.
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Beachgoers celebrate opening in Laguna and San Clemente, with limited-use only - OCRegister
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