Walk, run or surf - but don't sunbathe on Florida beaches

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Kevin Sweeny took his 2-year-old daughter on St. Augustine Beach on Saturday for the first time in weeks.

It was something that used to be routine. He lives a short bike ride from the shore and he and his family like to enjoy it as often as they can. That stopped when local governments began closing beaches. Now some areas of Florida are beginning to reopen them with restrictions: no sunbathing, no sitting in folding chairs, no coolers. Just walk, run, swim, fish or surf.

“People were in constant movement. I saw everybody walking and moving and minding their six, seven, 10 feet away from each other. It was certainly not chaos by any means. It was exactly what you would have wanted to see on your beach if you decided to open the beaches today,” Sweeny said. “There were no beach chairs.”

To be clear, the state of Florida never closed the beaches along its 1,350 miles (2,173 kilometers) of shoreline, except in South Florida — a hot spot for coronavirus infections. Decisions on beach closures have been left in the hands of local governments, and when Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a “safer at home” order on April 1, he specifically said walking, running and swimming were essential activities.

After that order, Volusia County, home to the famed Daytona Beach, opened its beaches with restrictions on April 4. While exercise was allowed, beach volleyball wasn't.

But on Friday, a reporter asked DeSantis about Duval County reopening its beaches earlier that day. The governor repeated what he's said all along: exercise is good, just be smart about it.

“I've always promoted essential activities with recreation. You've just got to do it in a way that's going to have low risk,” DeSantis said. “I get a kick out of somebody jogging on the beach in California, like all by his lonesome, and...