What coronavirus? Crowds flock to Hilton Head Island beaches, restaurants
Dispatches from Hilton Head Island’s Coligny Beach on Saturday and Sunday afternoons painted a scary picture for those interested in social distancing.
Crowds of people young and old camped out with coolers and tents to bask in the near-perfect weather.
The island’s beach parking lots were full early and stayed at capacity for a majority of the weekend, according to town staff.
In many ways, last weekend was a litmus test for what life on Hilton Head will be like as it balances a world with both tourists and coronavirus: It was the first weekend in which restaurants were allowed by the state to open for both indoor and outdoor seating, and the first weekend in which a majority of beaches were open to the public.
It was also a disconcerting combination for beach crowds.
Saturday’s 11 a.m. low tide meant beachgoers could spread out early in the day, but were forced into smaller slices of the beach as the day marched toward 6 p.m. high tide.
“The beaches were very crowded,” assistant town manager Josh Gruber told The Island Packet. “We were at about 80% of what we would typically see during a normal summertime situation.”
Not all who were on the beach were following social distancing guidelines, or the beach laws themselves.
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office issued about 60 warnings over the weekend to people consuming alcohol on the beach, which is illegal on Hilton Head Island, spokesperson Maj. Bob Bromage told The Island Packet.
Sea turtle advocates, who are currently taking inventory of nests on the beach, posted several photos from over the weekend of beach litter, tents left overnight and large holes, which impede adult sea turtles’ journeys to lay their eggs.
For nearby residents, the free-for-all on the beach underscored the other ways life has been affected or limited by the pandemic.
“It’s frustrating for people (who) are trying to do the right thing,” Bluffton resident Angela Clausen said. “These poor kids graduating can’t have a small, outside ceremony, but people can flood the beaches.”
Clausen, a parent of a May River High School senior, said she thinks everyone needs to be taking the pandemic more seriously.
“If I have to follow such strict rules like at my son’s graduation… it seems like we all need to be working together,” she said. “Since they lifted restrictions, everyone is just acting kind of like it didn’t even happen.”
‘Cluttered and crowded’ bars and restaurants
The first weekend of fewer restrictions also opened floodgates to the island’s restaurants, many of which were closed for weeks during March and April.
Some island restaurants had over hourlong waits for tables, and many families strolled along the newly opened park in Shelter Cove Towne Centre. Few people wore face masks.
Hilton Head Island residents posted videos from crowded dining rooms, which are supposed to fill only to 50% capacity and space tables at least eight feet apart.
Tom Lennox, who represents the south end of Hilton Head on the Town Council, said he had several discussions with constituents over the weekend who were incensed by the lack of social distance in restaurants.
“People were concerned that some of the bars and restaurants were filled,” he said. “The outdoor dining looked like it was social distancing and appropriate, but bar areas looked more cluttered and crowded.”
While some restaurants are removing bar stools and taping off sections, others appeared to be unchanged.
Bromage said the Sheriff’s Office can disperse crowds at restaurants, but the S.C. Restaurant and Lodging Association’s guidelines are not laws adopted by the governor and therefore cannot be grounds for a ticket.
Problems on the coast
The concerns from weekend crowds on Hilton Head aren’t unique.
Tourists returned in droves to Myrtle Beach, according to the Sun News.
“It’s a shock because where we live everything is closed and they extended stuff to stay closed longer, so to come down here and to see everything open and people dining in, it’s like whoa,” one tourist from Maryland told the Myrtle Beach newspaper.
Less than a week away from Memorial Day, the unofficial kickoff of high season in most Southern coastal areas, many are concerned that coronavirus precautions will be tossed to the wind.
The South Carolina Beach Advocates asked Gov. Henry McMaster to reevaluate the state’s reopening and economic revitalization orders for particularly vulnerable communities, The Greenville News reported.
“Opening all parts of the state absent consideration of the differences results in an influx of potentially infected visitors to the state’s beach communities — a concern not applicable to most of the state’s midlands and upstate communities,” the organization’s resolution said.
