After countless hours of wilting in your cubicle to fund for a trip to California’s hottest travel destinations, you want nothing more than to spend an idle day at the beach. The west coast is home to thousands of beautiful beaches, each one holding a unique essence drawing a variety of different crowds. Locals take pride in these sandy strips, and ask for respect when visiting their territory — these are the unspoken rules of the beach.
1. Park with courtesy
Although you’re just dying to get your spot in the sand, it pays to take a few extra seconds to make sure you parked perfectly. On a sunny Saturday, the cops love ticketing cars parked just slightly out of their stalls. Nothing irks a local like a truck parked in between two spots sporting a bold Arizona license plate.
2. Go barefoot on the beach
Unless the sand is scorching your feet, take off your sandals. You wouldn’t believe how much sand you’re kicking up into all the beach-goers faces when dragging your boogie board back to your car. Nobody wants to end up with a face full of sand because of a waddling tourist. Once you get back onto the pavement, flip flops are your go to footwear — nobody wears shoes to the beach.
3. Sunscreen
If your outfit doesn’t scream, “I’m from Iowa,” your sunburn will. I know you can’t bring sunscreen in your carry on when flying, but please stop by the first store you see and buy enough for everyone you’re traveling with. The sun in Southern California is very strong due to its proximity to the equator, thus causing more bad and good rays to hit you.
TIP: In order to receive optimal amounts of vitamin D during your get away, soak up the sun when your shadow is your height or smaller and avoid constant direct sunlight from the hours 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
4. Yelp!
Do your research and see the restaurants and attractions in walking distance from the beach. Although not every beachside business will be as tourist focused as the Santa Monica Pier, just remember the locals support these establishments for a reason. Websites like yelp.com and tripadvisor.com are great for planning ahead but don’t be afraid to ask a friendly looking local for their recommendations.
5.Think before you do
As a beach resident, I’ll be the first to say that we locals do some crazy stuff. Although activities like cliff jumping and pier diving are fun, leave it to the locals. In California, it is completely illegal to jump off any natural structure higher than ten feet tall, so an expensive ticket is gifted to anyone caught jumping. In addition, the water below the cliffs has varying depths and often tourists get injured due to landing in the wrong spot and have to be air lifted away. You know what comes with emergency helicopters? Police.
6. Respect the beach
These beaches would be a lot prettier without human interaction, so be courteous and pick up your trash — all of it. Even your innocent orange peels need to make their way to the trash can, the sand isn’t compost. Beaches with a lot of tourists, such as Huntington Beach and Mission Beach are generally avoided by locals because of the outrageous amount of trash left by visitors. It’s not fun at all to step on a rusty skewer and be forced to rush to the nearest clinic to get a tetanus shot.
7. Leave the wildlife alone
Spots like the La Jolla Shores Children’s Pool in San Diego offer amazing opportunities to view sea lions and other marine animals in their natural habitat. Despite how cute, tired looking or overheated these animals may seem; don’t touch them, don’t even get near them. If an animal looks distressed, report it to the lifeguard or national park service and your concerns will be taken care of. You don’t want to be responsible for something like the Yellowstone bison calf incident.
8. The lifeguards are your friends
Unless they’re saving someone’s life at the moment, the lifeguards are your go to source for everything about the water. They’ll tell you where to swim, what to look out for, and will help you with everything from bandaging a paper cut to fending off a shark. Often on the side of their shacks, they have a white board depicting the water temperature, wave heights, tides, and more.
9. Don't judge
California girls like being tan and will wear small swimsuits to insure they are tanning the optimal amount of skin. I understand “Brazilian” swimsuit bottoms are firmly disapproved at your local public pool in Kansas, but here, your discriminatory glares only makes you more hated by the locals. In California, anything goes, so wear your flowy pants with a tie dye shirt and go on with your day.
10. Respect the locals
Lastly, and most importantly, show courtesy to the people who live where you’re vacationing. So next time you want to enjoy our beaches, try something crazy and maybe actually smile at that dude skateboarding with his dog or that guy playing a ukulele on a street corner. Nothing annoys us as much as someone blasting Lady Gaga and boasting about how excited they are to be in “Cali” (nobody from California actually calls it Cali). Tourists have a bad reputation on the west coast simply because they aren’t considerate to others — so why not be the exception to that stereotype?
Pack your bags and enjoy the California sunshine! Understanding these unsaid rules of the beach might just help you fit right in with the locals, just don't bother them too much. We all live here because we think it’s pretty cool, and we hope you do too! Have fun on your next beach getaway and don’t forget to never say “Cali.”
