‘Respect matters:’ Hilton Head Memorial Day crowds left over 1,600 bags of trash behind
As beachgoers crested dunes on paths and boardwalks on Hilton Head Island last weekend, they were greeted with an imposing wall of bright-colored beach umbrellas — perhaps for the first time in months.
Memorial Day weekend brought droves of people to the island’s beaches, and packed parking lots before noon Monday. Left in beachgoers’ wakes was around 50,000 pounds of trash that was removed from the beaches throughout the three-day weekend.
The weekend was yet another signal of what tourism will look like on Hilton Head in the world of the coronavirus pandemic. As restrictions continue to ease across the state, short-term rental and hotel occupancy is creeping back and leading tourism industry businesses to hypothesize about what the summer will bring.
Memorial Day weekend left little to the imagination: The flood gates appeared to open.
Reservations came flooding in to out-of-state and regional visitors, beaches filled early and stayed crowded, restaurants ran hour-long wait times and tourist attractions such as adventure cruises, watercraft rentals and mini-golf courses reopened.
1,670 bags of trash removed from beaches
The groups of people on the beach didn’t necessarily “leave no trace.”
Lifeguards from Shore Beach Service removed 650 bags of trash from the beaches on Saturday, 600 bags on Sunday and 420 bags on Monday, according to Mike Wagner of Shore Beach Service.
The bags were collected from trash bins and through litter-cleaning missions on the beach itself.
If each bag weighs around 30 pounds, 1,670 bags of trash means about 50,100 pounds generated by beachgoers over the weekend, Wagner said.
He said the trash haul was relatively similar to that of Fourth of July weekend last year. On an average summer weekend, Shore Beach Service removes about 1,000 bags of trash from the beach, Wagner said.
Overflowing trashcans and beach tents left up past sunset also created hurdles for nesting sea turtles, which tend to turn around when they run into obstacles on the beaches.
“Lots of red here for a #MemorialDay ?!?! #SEAturtleSEASON2020,” Hilton Head Island Sea Turtle Patrol posted on Instagram. “#kindnessmatters #RespectMatters”
30 cars towed for parking illegally
As expected, beach parking was at a premium on Hilton Head throughout the holiday weekend.
The Islanders Beach Parking lot, which has 156 spaces, and the Coligny Beach parking lot, which has over 400 spaces, were filled before 11:45 a.m. on Saturday and before 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, according to Facebook posts from the Town of Hilton Head Island.
“Crowds on Monday were a little lighter,” according to Town Manager Steve Riley.
Town staff worked in the parking lots helping people pay for parking for the first time in two months as the island’s parking meters were up and running again.
Credit and debit card readers at at least one beach park were malfunctioning, leading to long lines at Driessen Beach Park meters.
The town towed around 30 cars that were parked illegally, Riley said.
“There were a lot of folks who had a sense of entitlement,” he said.
Private property owners also had cars towed that parked illegally in their driveways, Riley said.
This story was originally published May 26, 2020 at 11:31 AM.
