CLEARWATER BEACH, Fla. — Beaches are typically crowded throughout Memorial Day weekend.
What You Need To Know
- Busy beaches expected for memorial Day
- Social distancing will be enforced on the beaches
- Pinellas County Beach Capacity dashboard
But this year, due to the coronavirus, the crowds will look a lot different.
“It’s not just the beaches are open, everybody come,” said Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri.
No more than 10 people are allowed to gather together along the shoreline. The groups must maintain 6 feet of social distancing..
And social distancing will force deputies to turn away some of those excited beach-goers.
“Over the Memorial Day weekend, we’re going to have all the local people and we’re going to have the people in the hotels and there’s no doubt beaches are going to reach their capacity,” said Sheriff Gualtieri.
About 300 deputies will be monitoring beach activity and parking lots. Once the beaches and parking lots reach capacity, Pinellas deputies will close the area off to anyone else. Depending on the weather, that could happen earlier than expected.
The Sheriff is encouraging people to check out the county’s Beach Capacity Dashboard to get real-time information on how busy it is at the beach.
“It’ll help them from getting disappointed and getting there and finding out they can’t get on the beach or can’t find a place to park,” said Sheriff Gualtieri.
The dashboard will go live at 1 p.m. Friday. It’ll be available throughout the Memorial Day weekend.
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