Busy weekend for beach rescues at Newport, Huntington

Newport Beach lifeguards over the weekend rescued a record number of beachgoers for this time of year, and Huntington Beach Marine Safety officers had their busiest weekend since last summer as warm water and big surf drew crowds to the coast.

Lifeguards pulled struggling swimmers from the water 185 times as more than 150,000 people flocked to Newport Beach Saturday and Sunday, according to lifeguard Battalion Chief Mike Halphide. That was Newport’s most rescues for a weekend in March, he said.

In Huntington Beach, lifeguards rescued 194 people Saturday and Sunday, Marine Safety Lt. Claude Panis said.

“This is very unusual,” Newport’s Halphide said. “Usually March is kind of a [slow] month for us.”

This past weekend, however, water temperature in the mid-60s and swells as high as 8 to 10 feet meant people were eager to jump into the waves, according to lifeguards.

The strong surf caused rip currents up and down the Balboa Peninsula and along West Newport, which required a lot of attention from rescuers, Halphide said.

In preparation, lifeguards boosted patrols. Some of the extra staffers stayed on the beach Monday as a precaution.

Halphide said he expects visitors on spring break to keep lifeguards on their toes through the week, but not as busy as Saturday and Sunday.

“This is unprecedented, just that we had that many rescues,” he said.

Huntington lifeguards made contact with about 6,000 swimmers and other beachgoers, warning them about rip currents, Panis said.

“The swell was generating some huge rip currents,” he said. “We had a lot of close calls in a lot of the rescues.”

No deaths or major injuries were reported, Panis said.

Because of the unusually warm conditions for March, with temperatures in the 80s, Panis said the Marine Safety Division had to look for extra lifeguards to patrol the 3 1/2-mile city beach.

“We put out a Facebook message basically calling all guards,” he said. “We were in a desperate situation. It was definitely a challenge.”

The National Weather Service is forecasting high temperatures at the beach in the upper 60s through Thursday, rising to the high 70s Friday.

— Jeremiah Dobruck and Anthony Clark Carpio

Twitter: @jeremiahdobruck

Twitter: @acocarpio