SAN DIEGO — Excited for a beach family day, Kyle Dickson, his wife and three small children from Utah couldn't wait to play in the sand.
"We want to get as much beach time in as possible, and build as big of a Sandcastle as we can, and get some boogie boarding in,” said Dickson, who drove 11 hours with his family from Utah.
At La Jolla Shores, the Dickson family is enjoying the great outdoors and not worried about an uptick in San Diego County COVID cases.
"Here at the beach not really, when we are going into enclosed spaces, we still try to be COVID cautious and make sure we are respecting everyone's boundaries,” Dickson said.
Despite water temperatures being in the low to mid 60s, lifeguards say rip current activity is up, and so are their rescues.
"Your lifeguards are staffed up, and you'll also see lots of police officers around to keep people safe this weekend. There is still some beach space, but we do anticipate the crowds to increase through Monday,” said San Diego Lifeguards Lt. Lonnie Stephens.
Beyond the beach, San Diegans also flocked to movie theaters. Many came to see Top Gun.
"This was the best movie I've ever seen, it was definitely the best movie I've ever seen, and by the way, I am almost 51, so that’s a lot of movies,” said moviegoer Edgar Reese.
Tom Cruise fan Allen Reyes saw the film twice.
“It was really good. I saw the first one back in 86, and it was really good, so it brought back memories. And I named my dog Maverick,” said Reyes with a picture of his pug.
Even with the IMAX theater being packed at Edwards Cinemas in Mira Mesa, Edgar Reese said some moviegoers wore masks inside, but many did not.
“Yeah, nope, I was not concerned at all, and in fact, I had my little mask here in my pocket and it stayed in my pocket the whole time,” Reese said.
Despite Covid fatigue setting in for many over this holiday weekend, the county's deputy public health officer says all should remain vigilant as the risk of infection level increased from low to medium.
"In fact, they're probably even higher than we think they are based on what we're seeing from waste water and so many people are testing from home,” said Cameron Kaiser, San Diego County Deputy Public Health Officer.
Outdoor activities continue to be the most popular and safest way to celebrate the weekend.
"We have faith you know in the vaccine and everything, and I feel like we have gone through a pandemic before in 1918, and I’m sure we can come through stronger like last time. Hope we can all come together and fight this thing,” said beachgoer John Latendresse with his family at La Jolla Shores.
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