SAN DIEGO (KGTV)- San Diego lifeguards are on high alert this Labor Day weekend as high surf and strong rip currents create dangerous conditions along the coast.<\/p>\n
San Diego Fire-Rescue officials warn that the biggest risk isn’t just the size of the waves \u2014 it’s the rip currents that aren’t always visible.<\/p>\n
Candace Hadley, public information officer for San Diego Fire-Rescue and Lifeguards, said the department has already had an exceptionally busy summer.<\/p>\n
“Our lifeguards have performed about 5,500 rescues since June, and typically in an average year you have about 7,000 to 8,000 rescues, so it’s been a very busy summer,” Hadley said.<\/p>\n
This Labor Day weekend marks the last weekend of full summer staffing for lifeguards. Officials are urging beachgoers to check in before getting in the water.<\/p>\n
“Check in with a lifeguard, they’ll tell you the safest place to swim, you can learn about conditions in the area specifically, and make sure you know what to do if you get caught in a rip current,” Hadley said.<\/p>\n
Surfers are also taking the conditions seriously. Damien Manzino, a surfer at one of the San Diego beaches, said the incoming swell brings excitement \u2014 but also responsibility.<\/p>\n
“I think everyone gets a little excited when they know some surf is coming. I think making sure all your gear is ready and that you’re in shape, and yeah, get out here and have some fun,” Manzino said.<\/p>\n
Manzino also offered a word of caution to anyone heading into the water.<\/p>\n
“The ocean is very unforgiving; it doesn’t care if you’re tired or if you’re exhausted, it’s going to keep going, so I think once you start feeling a little fatigue, I think it’s time to come out and take a break,” Manzino said.<\/p>\n
Whether swimming or surfing, officials say beachgoers should know their limits and stay aware of conditions throughout the holiday weekend.<\/p>\n
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN DIEGO (KGTV)- San Diego lifeguards are on high alert this Labor Day weekend as high surf and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":453904,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[111132,18646,179309,21661,133101,74,10034,12029,76,75],"class_list":["post-453903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-beach-safety","tag-high-surf-advisory","tag-labor-day-weekend-san-diego","tag-lifeguards","tag-rip-currents","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-beaches","tag-san-diego-fire-rescue","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=453903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453903\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/453904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=453903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=453903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=453903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}