Thousands of Memorial Day visitors flock to SLO County beaches, despite hotel restrictions

A dreary, foggy morning along the coast Saturday turned into a warm sunny day that set the stage for a crowded yet calm Memorial Day weekend amid an ongoing shelter-at-home order.

The county received notice from the state on Wednesday that dine-in restaurants and retails stores are allowed to reopen with restrictions in San Luis Obispo County.

However, the county is still asking that people avoid nonessential travel and visiting the area from out of the county.

The crowds were fairly large in Pismo Beach around the pier and in town despite the county spending up to $9,000 on a social media campaign urging Valley visitors not to come to the coast during the ongoing pandemic.

San Luis Obispo County also issued a hotel occupancy order, which began May 17, that required San Luis Obispo County hotels to limit occupancy rates to 50 percent of capacity to prevent tourism in the area.

In Pismo Beach alone, lifeguards estimated 4,600 visitors on Friday and around 7,600 Saturday, according to Cal Fire/Pismo Beach Battalion Chief Paul Lee, who supervises the lifeguards.

The crowds in Pismo Beach seemed to be mostly families relaxing with children who played on the edge of the water and built sandcastles.

Many teens and young adults were throwing footballs, playing games or trying to surf in the wind-chopped waves.

A good portion of the groups kept an abundant distance between themselves. Very few people wore masks.

Anthony Hernandez, a resident of Porterville, who was staying the weekend said people would stay away from other groups regardless of social distancing guidelines.

“When you come to a place like this, of course people are being socially distant,” Hernandez said. “Would you want another person within 120 feet of you when you’re hanging out on the beach? I wouldn’t. Of course they’re being socially distant.”

Another person, who did not give his name, said he believes the coronavirus pandemic is a hoax.

“I think it’s all b-------t. I don’t believe that it’s real. It’s just the government trying to control things. I don’t think people need to do any of this,” he said.

The Pismo Beach City Council passed an emergency ordinance May 20, requiring essential employees — but not customers ⁠— to wear face coverings ⁠at local businesses.

Avila Beach

There were also thousands on the beach in Avila Beach. It was fairly crowded on the promenade and social distancing seemed an afterthought.

A line for takeout at a local bar demonstrated good social distancing. Yet, many stores had lines of people coming out their doors, with little space between persons lined up to order or pay at the cash register.

Again, very few people were wearing masks.

SLO County incidents were mild over weekend — so far

Despite the crowds, not many violations and incidents were reported throughout the county Friday and Saturday.

“It’s been a relatively mild weekend, so far, and there were no alcohol violations in town,” Pismo Beach police Sgt. Chris Trimble said Saturday evening. “It seems like a regular summer weekend day.”

Paul Lee said, “On Friday the lifeguards had 30 safety contacts, three missing persons, 56 ordinance advisories and a total of 4,600 visitors protected. On Saturday, the lifeguards took care of one medical aid, 77 safety contacts, one missing person, 181 ordinance advisories and protected 7,600 visitors.”

Cal Fire also had a relatively mild Saturday, said Cal Fire public information officer Adan Orozco.

There were few incidents except for a water craft accident at Lake Nacimiento.

“At about 3:56 p.m. we received a report that a jet ski ran into a boat and a female sustained a head injury, but we have not received any further details at this time,” Orozco said.

Monterey County park rangers were also involved with the incident.

The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office said it had a mild Saturday as well.

“We received a couple of calls for service in Avila Beach, but that was about it,” SLO sheriff’s Sgt. Chris Langston said. “Nothing noteworthy happened.”

The California Highway Patrol is conducting its annual Memorial Day “Maximum Enforcement Period” which runs from 6 p.m. Friday to 11:59 p.m. Monday.

“As the Memorial Day weekend approaches, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) continues to encourage essential travel only and physical distancing for all,” according to a media release from Sven Miller, commander of the Office of Community Outreach & Media Relations.

“We’ve had the typical criminal behavior for a weekend, and we’ve seen an uptick in vehicle traffic and parking lot complaints, but DUI incidents and vehicle accidents have been fairly low, “ said Sgt. Charlie Wilson of the San Luis Obispo CHP office. “San Luis Obispo County has, for the most part, been pretty mild. We have 80% of our traffic officers on patrol because of the Memorial Day ‘Maximum Enforcement Period.’”

This story was originally published May 24, 2020 at 12:37 PM.