Beach closures set for Labor Day weekend in Santa Cruz

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION) All beaches across Santa Cruz County will be closed Labor Day weekend starting at 5 a.m. Saturday and ending at 5 p.m. on Monday.

The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors announced the closures Tuesday to give plenty of heads up for residents and visitors ahead of the holiday weekend.

“We’re going to still be in this heat wave for a while, and we want to make sure we don’t create a magnet to bring people here,” District 1 Supervisor John Leopold said.

Water activities will still be allowed during the closure. From 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday the beach will be open to the public. The county is calling it a "sunset provision".

Beach towns like Capitola are used to a frenzy of visitors over Labor Day Weekend. The owner of El Toro Bravo restaurant says Capitola Village feeds off holiday weekends like this, and even the closures may not stop the crowds much.

“I still think it will be busy. I think at some point it gets too busy where you can’t accommodate all those people any way. I think hopefully it will bring less people over here,” owner Kristie Baron said.

The reason the health officer opened beaches back up in late June is, because people were unwilling to follow the restrictions. Santa Cruz law enforcement say they will add extra patrols for the holiday weekend.

A Sheriff's Office spokesperson told KION they expect people to comply, but deputies will have the ability to cite visitors. Deputies can give as steep as a $1,000 fine.

This closure includes all jurisdictions in Santa Cruz County. Monterey County is expected to issue similar restrictions for the holiday weekend.