Remember the beaches? They’re still open in Orange County
By Jefferson Graham
A crowded ocean front walkway on a recent Wednesday, 4/22/20 in Huntington Beach, in the heart of the COVID crisis. Photo
What a difference a county can make.
All the beaches in Los Angeles County, from Long Beach and San Pedro through Manhattan, Hermosa and Redondo, Santa Monica and Malibu are currently closed, due to the COVID crisis.
But not so in Orange County. A visit to nearby Huntington Beach (a.k.a. Surf City, USA) and Newport Beach recently showed another side of quarantine life, where social distancing is something practiced elsewhere.
I saw Newport’s Oceanfront Boardwalk and Huntington’s bike path by the (closed) Pier packed with guys and gals in bikinis and board shorts, crammed together, cyclists going up and down the area, and beaches crowded with umbrellas, sandpails and sunbathers, frolicking in the sand.
Right next to each other, with barely a mask in sight.
Yes, the parking lots are closed to discourage visitors and the Piers themselves closed to the public, but the beaches wide open, albeit with occasional “social distancing” signs reminding folks to remain 6 feet apart from each other.
Not all OC beaches are like this. Laguna and Seal Beaches have closed access to their beaches, and while Dana Point does have an open beach, the city has eliminated all parking except for residents, to encourage folks from out of town not to visit. San Clemente is set to re-open their beaches.
The mayor of San Clemente told the Orange County Register that he believes beach towns that have restricted access to the beach don’t have any lower COVID-19 numbers than others that have kept the coast open.
From what I saw in Newport Beach this week, beyond the throngs of people, were a few masks. Most stores were closed, and the ones that were open (which included tattoo parlors and smoke shops—essential?) required masks to enter. That’s masked Henry above, as in the Henry’s Groceries souvenir shop on the Boardwalk.
And while the Newport beaches are open, there is one exception. The “Wedge” area, which has been insanely popular with surfers since the 1960s and the “Endless Summer” movie, is roped off and patrolled by lifeguards keeping people away.
Henry, the mascot of the Henry’s Grocery in Newport Beach sports a mask, as a reminder that people need to have face coverings before entering. Photo
Of the Orange County beach cities, Huntington, the largest, with over 200,000 residents, has had the most COVID cases, 162, followed by Newport, with 91 cases, according to the Orange County Health Care Agency. Laguna has reported 36 cases, to 18 for neighboring Dana Point and 10 for Seal Beach.
Redondo Beach has the most reported cases in the South Bay, with 95, to 64 in Manhattan Beach and 23 in Hermosa, according to the Los Angeles County Health department.
The bike path and walkway known as the Strand are closed in Manhattan Beach, so people have taken to just moving one block over, to Ocean Avenue, where there are larger walking and cycling gatherings in an alley.
In Hermosa and Redondo, the bike path and piers are closed, although in Redondo, patrons can visit the restaurants for pick-up orders. The popular Esplanade walkway, which overlooks the ocean and neighboring Palos Verdes peninsula, is also roped off, to the consternation of some locals. But a Friday protest drew few participants.
Beachgoer hangs on a Newport Beach lifeguard station