SeeCalifornia.com

A day at the beach is child’s play in Corona del Mar, the Crown of the Sea. But are the kids and adults really safe?

This week we’ve said hello to tourists visiting California from Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, Arizona and Colorado. The families have been super nice and we’ve listened to their travel stories. Most come to see Disneyland and major attractions, but their children find the beach one of the highlights of the trip.

BEACH SAFETY TIPS AND HIDDEN DANGERS:

• Stay out of the ocean for 24-72 hours after it rains. Urban run-off can make you sick.
• Avoid picking up dangerous trash. The rain washed ashore some interesting trash, including candy wrappers, bottles, cups, shoes, tennis balls and the things you really don’t want kids to pick up–like used condoms and vials containing what may be drugs. It’s yucky stuff. Just keep an eye on what you rest on in the sand or pick up!
• Watch dangers in public restrooms. One danger nearly shook me in the public bathroom next to the beach this week. As I reached over to set my small camera down on the metal shelf next to the toilet paper,  I stopped just in time. A bloodied hypodermic needle was sitting on the shelf with the needle tip pointing my way! If I hadn’t seen it, or a parent had sent a child into a restroom alone, can you imagine that kid finding the needle and touching it accidentally or picking it up? Half the time the parent wouldn’t know about it because the child wouldn’t tell them, and the other half the parent would have no way of knowing what kind of contact the kid did or didn’t have with the dangerous object.  My recommendation is to go with kids into public restrooms and check it out for safety’s sake.
• Rip currents – are the number 0ne danger. They catch people in waves and pull them away from shore.
• Jellyfish stings – shuffle your feet on the ocean floor, especially when jellyfish are around.
• Broken glass – wear shoes when walking in sand and don’t bring glass objects onto the beach.