Surf and weather attracting smaller crowds

Bryce Alderton

NEWPORT BEACH -- The cool ocean breezes coming off Newport Beach on

Sunday made beach goers glad they made the drive from warmer inland areas

across Southern California.

Christopher and Shay Guerra of Whittier sat along the wall lining the

boardwalk to enjoy the ocean views.

“When it gets hot, we start thinking about coming down to get away

from the heat,” Christopher Guerra said.

The couple often goes to Mother’s Beach in Long Beach, but said

Newport is their favorite.

“You can breathe better here -- it’s cleaner and fresher,” Shay Guerra

said.

The couple’s 2-old-daughter, Hannah, looked over with a smile as dad

rubbed her feet.

When asked what she liked best about the beach, Hannah grinned and

said, “the sand.”

Susan Phan of Riverside drove an hour to Newport Pier on Sunday. She

tries coming to Newport Beach once a week.

“It’s fun down here, there are lots of people,” Phan said. “I usually

walk around and sometimes go in the water.”

Mike Perez sat on his bike looking toward the end of the pier. He

moved to Costa Mesa six months ago from New Jersey, where he also lived

close to the beach.

“I came here on vacation and ended up staying,” Perez said. “I like

relaxing and the scenery is good.”

Newport Beach’s water temperature on Sunday was about 65 degrees with

a 1- to 3-foot swell.

Capt. Eric Bauer of the Newport Beach Lifeguards said the beach has

been a little quieter than usual this summer because of the smaller surf.

“It’s been a fairly surf-free summer and there’s nice crowds when it’s

warm, but it has been overcast for most mornings, and we haven’t had the

surf to go with [the nice warm weather],” Bauer said.

About 170,000 people visited the beach at Newport Pier on the weekend

of Aug. 4 to 5. Saturday’s crowd at Newport Beach totaled about 65,000.

“Bigger surf brings more rip currents and more rescues,” Bauer said.

There were 5,450 rescues last year for the Newport Beach area covering

Corona del Mar north to the Santa Ana River. So far, 2,111 rescues have been reported this year.

“It will probably be about 2,000 less than last year because of the

decreased surf,” Bauer explained.

Corona del Mar reported eight paramedic calls Aug. 4 to 5, with 38

rescues for all of the Newport Beach area that weekend. Fifteen rescues

were reported Saturday.

Bauer said the sun came out about 11:30 a.m. Sunday, a little later

than usual to bring in an estimated crowd of 75,000.

He said peak crowds come out to the sand from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. with

some staying to watch the sunsets.

“With some schools starting up in a few weeks, we’ll probably start to

see the crowds taper off,” Bauer said.

* Bryce Alderton is the news assistant. He may be reached at (949)

574-4298 or by e-mail at o7 bryce.alderton@latimes.comf7 .