Easy Ways We Can All Be a Little Safer at the Beach This Season

BEach SAFEly. Get it?

Throughout this summer, New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium (NJSGC) and New York Sea Grant (NYSG) want you to enjoy the beach safely.

COVID-19 brings more considerations beyond the usual “beach safety and ocean hazards” messages that you've always heard.

So continuing every Thursday into early September, the Sea Grant programs will debut a new social media graphic each week to remind beachgoers to stay safe while still having fun at the Jersey Shore (and beyond).

The first message in the series involved Social Distancing:

-- The beaches are open and you should enjoy them! Just remember that you still need to practice social distancing. So: Embrace your personal space!

-- Stay at least 6 feet apart from other beachgoers that you didn’t come with. Think of it like this:

-- Six feet is the average length of either one surfboard, two boogie boards, a bit more than an beach towel length, or three beach chairs – you could even measure based on your beach umbrella pole!

-- When you’re walking around the beach, to and from the parking lot or other facilities, or if you can’t stay more than 6 feet apart from others, remember to wear your mask.

-- Frequently wash or sanitize your hands. And if you feel sick, stay home.

Other message topics from the Sea Grants since that one include: “Grab your Sunscreen and Sanitizer,” “Stay Dry when Waves are High,” and “Break the Grip of the Rip!”

Please visit the BEach SAFEly website to learn more about all of these topics, (including the topic of utmost importance to everyone --rip currents) and to download the official images in both English and Spanish to help others.

CLICK HERE for all of the messages and images! If you printed these easy-to-look-at photos for your little kids and explained what each one meant, you could rest assured they'd not only be safer today, but would carry around these messages for life!