Does the governor’s latest emergency decree mean that our early morning walks on the beach before dawn are now illegal?
Hawaii Governor David Ige issued his 5th Supplementary Proclamation under emergency powers that derive from his declaration of a state of emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic. This 5th Supplement went into effect on Friday at 12:01 a.m., and among other things declared all state beaches “closed.”
Here’s the relevant section from the proclamation.
Beach Closures. All state beaches in Hawai?i are hereby closed. No person shall sit, stand, lie down, lounge, sunbathe, or loiter on any state beach or sand bar in Hawai?i, except when transiting across or through beaches to access the ocean waters for outdoor exercise purposes, such as surfing, solo paddling, and swimming, so long as physical distancing requirements are maintained.
Walking doesn’t fit among the activities specifically prohibited (“No person shall sit, stand, lie down, lounge, sunbathe, or loiter on any state beach or sand bar”). And the proclamation allows other “outdoor exercise activies” such as surfing, paddling, and swimming.
How about senior citizens getting their exercise walking on the beach very early in the morning, maintaining social distance, and wearing masks around any other people? We’re not loitering, lounging, or sunbathing. Are we just collateral damage in efforts to control groups of people partying at the beach?
Today, for the first time in a very long time, we didn’t walk to the beach to watch the sunrise. Instead, out of an abundance of caution, we walked a couple of miles around the neighborhood, up around Kahala Mall, and back. Definitely not the same as welcoming being on the beach to welcome the dawn.
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Think if omitted one can continue on w/activity. We have to focus on personal health and arch’s addition to herd immunity.
Crowd control, top-down, is tough when really trying to limit homeless and tourist abuse of current flu season proclamations
Walking is not “loitering” and it does not expressly prohibit “running” on the beach. Its poorly drafted. Can I walk the entire length of Kailua Beach to say I”m “walking across the beach to swim”
If you walk on the water it’s ok.
I would think you can walk along the beach. We do as long as we can maintain a safe distance from other people. There may have been confusing drafting there, but I believe it’s meant to allow anyone to walk along the beach whether they are going surfing, swimming, snorkeling or just walking. They just don’t want people just hanging out there sunbathing and so on.
I would agree with the interpretation that it’s allowed, and if it isn’t, it should be.
The mayor’s proclamation about closing private golf courses “and similar facilities” is also unclear. A doctor in Hawaii Kai called me last week about whether he and his wife were allowed to swim in their association’s pool. They had been told by police that they weren’t allowed to swim there, even though they practiced social distancing. (That’s their main form of exercise and have been swimming laps there in the early mornings for over a decade.)
I asked for clarification from the mayor’s office but didn’t get a definitive answer.
We all know what the intent is regardless of the ambiguousness of the proclamation. You now have an excellent opportunity to see other early morning sights. Let others be labeled scofflaws.
A police officer on Kailua Beach told us (and I presume everyone else on the beach this morning) that walking was prohibited and could result in a citation in the future. The only permitted activity is exercise in the water. And fishing, apparently, up to the high wash of the waves.
Ok to walk below the high-tide line. As the Mayor clarified, “Keep your feet wet!”
My understanding of the strictures — that may have been superseded — was that walking or jogging on the beach would be allowed as long as it was done below the high water mark, i.e. wet sand, not dry. True, this makes jogging more difficult.
It’s illegal Ian. It clearly states only to get to the water. As WB said you know the intent. I wouldn’t try too hard to pick it apart and look for a loophole. Suck it up and enjoy the walk around your swanky neighborhood. It can’t be all that bad looking at homes in the tens of millions dollars along the way.
Brah, you now one criminal.
Some comments have said this is poor drafting. Maybe or maybe it was, quietly, intentionally vague. Making this a grey zone leaves room to move it either way later and meanwhile this will likely reduce the walking traffic to some degree with people thinking twice about whether to go. (Just as your walk this AM went in another direction).
Maybe it’s best read it as “beach walking: really, best avoided for everyone’s sake (but yours). But if it’s really important for you, you’re probably fine to go for now.” Of course, you do so at your own risk (contagion wise and legally) more than just staying at home. And by all means, don’t do this with folk from outside your home and keep proper distances.
These proclamations are mostly designed to create a sense of alarm and urgency amongst the public. The virus doesn’t know if you are walking on a sidewalk or on the beach, but people might be more likely to congregate on the beach.
Guys …. This is really simple. I called HPD yesterday morning (Saturday April 18,2020). ANY EXERCISE OF ANY KIND IS NOT PERMITTED on any beach moving. To make it even more simple … Your feet are only allowed on the beach if you are toting a surfboard, a kayak, a paddle board, or dive gear to the water and you stay in the water. Don’t believe me? Call them and ask for yourself.
Beaches in Australia are re-opening, but with social distancing in force and no sitting or lying around and otherwise just taking up space without exercising. People need to exercise, and that includes walking and running, not just swimming and surfing!
Unfortunately, people always want to congregate and socialize, so the beaches might get shut down again soon. Just as we have lifeguards to watch swimmers, we need lifeguards to watch the beach to make sure that no one sits or lies down, and to prevent groups of people from forming.