Naples beaches closed most of Memorial Day, beach control clears up confusion

Normally, the beaches in Naples are packed with people on Memorial Day. But these are not normal times, and the beach is now empty.

The city’s tight restrictions caused some confusion, but beach patrol cleared that up pretty quickly.

At 11 a.m. Monday, the weather was the only care in the world for these beachgoers. That all changed at 11:15 a.m.

The beach patrol cleared everyone off the beach in accordance with the city’s tight restrictions to make sure they didn’t have packed beaches.

Naples reopened its beaches at the beginning of the month if people would socially distance, but that didn’t happen.

“It’s disappointing because when they aren’t following the rules of the guidelines, it kind of puts a damper on it for other people,” said Tricia Travi.

She said she’d hoped to spend the day, only to find out she couldn’t. Early Monday afternoon, there was nothing to see but sand.

Now, on weekends and holidays, Naples closes its beaches at 11 a.. and reopens them at 5 p.m.

As the clock struck closing time, most people stayed put.

“These people, they’re either clueless or just disregarding for what people are trying to do and implement for everybody,” Travi said.

Marc Nuttle lives down the street from the beach but admitted he didn’t know the rules.

“We just drove down there and that’s when we found out it was closed from 11 to 5,” he said.

Beach patrol finally got everyone to leave. Travi said she’s trying to keep an open mind.

“These rules are here for a reason and let’s try to work together,” she said.

Collier County put the same restrictions in place for its beaches. We’ll see if people will return when they open up again at 5 p.m.