Beaches Open, Closed In Orange County 4th Of July 2020

ORANGE COUNTY, CA — With perfect weather, perfect waves, and the coronavirus pandemic it is a perfect storm on southern California shores.

Multiple Orange County cities held emergency meetings, deciding to close their beaches for the Fourth of July holiday weekend. By Thursday, county officials announced beaches would be closed to the public on Saturday and Sunday.

County CEO Frank Kim and Supervisor Lisa Bartlett confirmed that county beaches would be closed both for the 4th of July holiday and Sunday.

While Gov. Gavin Newsom asked all to follow the closure orders to "gain independence from COVID-19," city leaders have asked residents to be patient and courteous to lifeguards and police who are enforcing the closures.

Here is the closure information as of Thursday afternoon.

In Orange County, the following State Parks beaches are open, though parking is closed Friday, July 3 through Sunday, July 5. Note, Gov. Newsom may issue further closures as he did in Los Angeles:

• Bolsa Chica
• Huntington State
• Crystal Cove
• Doheny
• San Clemente
• San Onofre state

Closed County-operated beaches, Saturday and Sunday:

• Aliso
• Capistrano
• Salt Creek
• Baby Beach
• Bayside
• Camel Point
• Poche
• Strands
• Table Rock
• Thousand Steps
• Treasure Island
• West Street

All city beaches are closed July 4th and 5th in:

• Newport Beach
• Laguna Beach
• Huntington Beach
• Seal Beach

Still open for the holiday weekend. At least, so far:

• Dana Point city beaches will remain open on the 4th of July weekend as of this report.
• San Clemente city beaches will remain open 4th of July weekend as of this report.

Further south, San Diego state beaches are closed to parking, though the city and county-run beaches remain open as of this report.

On Wednesday in Newport Beach, the city council reached an emergency decision to close beaches from 10 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Sunday. Two seasonal lifeguards in the city tested positive for the coronavirus, and nearly two dozen others remain in quarantine.

Newport Beach Mayor Will O'Neill noted the fastest growing demographic of infected patients are in their 20s and 30s.

"They're going to bars, going to house parties, not doing a great job of social distancing," O'Neill said, adding that he hopes they will now "take this seriously" as officials have to retreat on business and beach activity.

"I cannot in good conscience add more onto our lifeguards," he said. "We just can't responsibly ask our lifeguards to do more with less."

O'Neill also implored beachgoers to stay away during the holiday weekend.

"Don't make our lifeguards and police chase you off," he said. "This is a hard enough year... This is a time we step up to where we need to be."

The Huntington Beach City Council also voted in an emergency meeting Wednesday night to close all city beaches, Huntington Harbor beaches, Sunset Beach and the Pier on July 4.

Seal Beach's City Council voted to close its beaches and parking lots from 6 p.m. Friday through Sunday at sunrise.

San Clemente Mayor Pro Tem Laura Ferguson told City News Service she does not favor closing her city's beaches this weekend.

Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do said he agreed with O'Neill that beaches are not a primary cause of coronavirus spread. Still, because all the other surrounding beaches are closed and recreations at bars and restaurants, it makes sense to close the county's beaches, so they are not overrun.

The beach closures follow a county order Wednesday, closing all bars in the city, which was also put in place later in the day by Gov. Gavin Newsom, affecting 19 counties, including Orange County.