Friday, July 18, 2025
As beach season is here, Atlantic Beach residents are reminded to practice water safety and stay vigilant while still having fun.
Starting Memorial Day weekend, residents will have access to the eight village beaches on the weekends until June 21. Then, the beaches are open seven days a week until Labor Day. On the beachfront, there is no swimming on the weekends until the lifeguards begin working on June 21.
Nat Etrog, a village trustee and chairman of the Parks Commission stressed the importance of beachfront and pool safety.
“Atlantic Beach like a lot of communities has had a significant increase in home pools and there’s a long and unfortunate history of drownings in home pools, especially young children,” Etrog said.
With May being National Water Safety Month, Etrog emphasized that the five layers of safety should be followed no matter the person’s swim level at home and beachfront.
“Unfortunately, there is not one single thing we can do to prevent drowning so the National Drowning Prevention Alliance recommends layers of protection,” Alissa Magrum, executive director of the NDPA wrote in an email. “If one layer fails, another is in place.”
The layers of protection include — 1. Using barriers and alarms to restrict access to water. 2. Constant-capable and undistracted supervision around water. 3. Learning water competency and swimming skills. 4. Wearing U.S Coast guard approved life jackets when in, on and around open water and always while boating. 5. Being prepared in case of an emergency, learning first aid and CPR with rescue breaths.
“Drowning is fast and silent and does not discriminate,” Magrum wrote. “In the United States, we lose an average of 11 people every day to drowning — all ages, genders, races, ethnicities, socioeconomic levels and even swimming ability. We must elevate this issue to the forefront of everyone’s attention.”
“Never swim when there’s no lifeguard on duty,” Etrog said. “Despite the fact that the beaches are open people are constantly reminded by staff and park commissioner that there is no swimming allowed.”
Once the beaches are open full-time, these rules also apply when the lifeguards finish for the day and people remain at the beach.
“After-hours swimming becomes an issue to because there are no lifeguards on duty, that’s when you see most of the drownings,” Etrog added. “We have not had a drowning in Atlantic Beach since the village was incorporated in 1962.”
Dan Majikas has been the Atlantic Beach chief lifeguard for five summers and this will be his 17th as a lifeguard. He manages a crew of over 30 lifeguards that span the seven stands along the village’s eight beaches.
“We identify hazards like rip currents and undertows, we indicate that with yellow flags or we’ll keep people in no deeper than their waist,” Majikas said. “When the red flags come out we close the beach or just the water and we mark the swim area with red and green flags.”
He urges residents to “always swim in front of the lifeguards” and “talk to the lifeguards” about your swimming ability.
“In the beginning of the season, the water will be very cold which poses as another hazard so try to swim in front of guarded beaches and keep yourselves and children close and monitored,” he said.
For more information about water safety with educational tools and resources, go to NDPA.org.
