Warm weather and heavy surf brought almost 450,000 visitors to Malibu for Labor Day, including 205,000 on Monday alone.
According to lifeguards, the weekend was busy but not terribly eventful, which is good news after the busy week following high surf advisories from Hurricane Marie.
“I think we were at max capacity,” said Lifeguard Captain Howell.
Howell, who has worked as a Malibu lifeguard during Labor Day Weekend for the past several years, said crowds this year compared favorably to years past.
“I think every Labor Day [has been] very busy — this one might have been just a tad more busy,” Howell added.
Another lifeguard, Captain Tim McNulty agreed.
“The crowd was probably the biggest crowd of the season,” McNulty said, “I’d say probably bigger than Fourth of July … just based on what my eye would tell me.”
The 450,000 visitors mark an uptick by almost 100,000 compared to how many came to enjoy the surf and sand in Malibu this Memorial Day, although part of that may have to do with the weather.
“The holiday weekend, the warm weather, the lack of wind, all those things contributed,” said McNulty, adding, “people weren’t leaving the beach, either. People were here ‘til dark. People tend to clear out in the early afternoon and that simply didn’t happen.”
The weekend was also fairly trouble-free, with no major incidents reported by lifeguards or firefighters.
Lifeguards mentioned that on Saturday evening there was an incident at Pirate’s Cove, located in Point Dume.
A man was injured at around 7:30 p.m. Saturday while possibly repelling from the cliff face at Pirate’s Cove and was transported to the hospital by ground transportation, according to McNulty, who was not on duty at the time.
Howell affirmed, but said more details were not clear. He added that the lifeguards were aided by the LA County Fire Department.
Officials on duty at Fire Station 71, which serves the Point Dume neighborhood, on Tuesday said they were not aware of any rescue incidents at Pirate’s Cove over the weekend.
Businesses on Malibu Pier also claimed a successful weekend, although complications from the high surf caused by Hurricane Marie caused problems for both the Malibu Farm restaurant at the far end of the pier and the Malibu Pier Restaurant at the near end.
During the storm, the gate on the pier was closed for three days, shutting down business for the Farm during a busy stretch. However, that, along with curious surfers who came to check out the heavy waves, meant that business for the Malibu Pier Restaurant was increased.
“They drank most of our beer on the week leading up to Labor Day,” said Carol Satterblom, a manager of the Malibu Pier Restaurant, which opened earlier this summer.
“Everyone was just glued to the windows,” said Satterblom, who described “surf families” coming to the pier to watch the high swells from the safety of her restaurant.
“It was a surf crowd that we usually don’t get,” said Satterblom.
The Malibu Farm, located at the far end of the Pier, was closed down from Wednesday through Friday.
“It was a very strange sense of déjà vu,” said manager Helene Henderson, comparing last week’s closure to the pier fire last Labor Day.
“We were looking at the pier thinking ‘oh my God, can we open the restaurant?’” Henderson recalled.
“This year it was the exact same thing, thinking, ‘is the pier going to survive the storm?’” Henderson said.
Jefferson “Zuma Jay” Wagner, the owner of Zuma Jay’s, said that business at his shop this Labor Day was average.
“It was normal for Labor Day,” said Wagner, who has been selling boards and gear in Malibu for 39 years.
“We see a lot of tourists,” Wagner added.
Now that Labor Day has passed, lifeguards are back down to their winter schedule, as peak tourist season for the year is now officially over.
“From today [Tuesday] on, we’re hiring just on an as-needed basis,” Howell said.
McNulty added that although visitors may be dropping off, rescue numbers could remain high.
“Conditions are fairly treacherous right now,” said McNulty. “It’s kind of like springtime conditions, with rip currents and we’re going to have to be on our toes.”
