Headed to the Long Beach sand? Check the surfboard

Summertime in Long Beach is filled with fun on the sand and in the ocean. Residents and visitors swim, surf, play volleyball, build sandcastles.

It can all be good at the beach, but it can also be dangerous. Because of this, the city made some new additions at some of the entrances along the boardwalk last month: surfboard-shaped signs detailing the conditions on the beach.

There are three signs on the boardwalk, in front of lifeguard headquarters at New York Avenue, Riverside Boulevard and Neptune Boulevard. Each one has a sponsor: Mount Sinai South Nassau hospital, Beach Terrace Care Center, and Optimum.

“Actually, that used to be the way it was quite a few years back,” City Council President Brendan Finn said of the signs. “It’s really a good thing for the city.”

The signs inform beachgoers whether lifeguards are on duty, and until what time; the times of high and low tide; the height of the waves; the air temperature; and the UV index. They also include written comments from the lifeguards on duty.

At the New York Avenue entrance on Monday, the lifeguards’ hand-written note read, “Rough water! No fins, no ins!” Conditions on the beach and in the ocean may change throughout the day, and the boards are the way to find out.

“Sometimes conditions don’t really change all that much — dramatically or quickly,” Finn said, “so when they do, we want (the boards) to be changed. That’s the idea.”

And they were starting to make an impact already, according to Chief of Lifeguards Richard Borawski, helping both beachgoers and lifeguards. The patrons are more prepared, knowing if and when they can swim and how much protection they’ll need from the sun, which can lead to a safer day at the beach.

And the information the lifeguards provide can make their jobs a little less hectic. If people are hitting the sand more aware and prepared, there are likely to be fewer potential problems, and situations in which lifeguards need to act fast. Fewer swimmers are apt to get themselves into trouble if they are aware of the waves, tides and rip current locations beforehand.

Borawski said he hopes this is just the beginning of “pre-beach” awareness. He hopes that, one day, the notifications can become digital, with the potential for information to be updated by computer in the lifeguard headquarters and accessible by any beachgoer with a smartphone or mobile device as conditions change throughout the day.

Mount Sinai, Long Beach’s closest full-service hospital and the sponsor of the board at the Riverside Boulevard lifeguard headquarters, has partnered with the city for years. The hospital has created a number of sponsorships in support of children and seniors as well as health education programs in Long Beach, and the city invited the hospital to take part in this project a few months ago.

“This new opportunity to us this year is exciting, and for us it’s really just continuing our commitment to keep residents safe and keeping them informed,” Mount Sinai’s vice president of public affairs, Dana Sanneman, said. “We’re excited that the city decided to do the beach signage, and we’re happy to partner with them on it.”