On The Beach, Sometimes It's About Rules, Sometimes It's Simply A Matter Of Etiquette

All year long, Claudia Kosciusko enjoys walking her dog along a stretch of beach in North Sea. But early last month, she went for a walk at her favorite place to go in the morning, and she was taken aback by what she saw.

Ms. Kosciusko found the remains of multiple bonfires, broken beer bottles and other garbage, including condoms and what looked like a truckload of wooden pallets.

“That day, I was, like: What is this disaster?” she said, adding a gasp for emphasis. “I was just shocked that people would just treat the beach this way. It’s such a beautiful spot.”

Despite warning signs listing hefty fines, some people continue to leave their garbage behind on beaches, spoiling the experience for those who come after wanting to enjoy what makes the East End a desirable place to live and visit.

“There’s no reason you can’t go and enjoy the beach and have a bonfire,” Ms. Kosciusko said. “Just take home what you bring on. Don’t leave it there.”

Garbage on the beach is just one of many rules—some official, some simple matters of etiquette—that can get residents grumbling during the busy summer season.

Carry On

, Carry Off

This year, Coopers Beach in Southampton was ranked as the eighth-best beach in America by Dr. Beach, aka Dr. Stephen Leatherman, who is the director of the laboratory for coastal research at Florida International University in Miami.

The annual top 10 list put Coopers in good company with beaches like Ocracoke, North Carolina, Siesta Beach in Sarasota, Florida, and Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve in Oahu, Hawaii. The local spot, along with some others in the region, regularly makes the annual list, which is based on 50 criteria that include aspects such as beach material, sand softness, rip currents, smell, wildlife, and the presence of sewage, glass, rubble and litter.

While the Village of Southampton tries to keep Coopers Beach looking fine and pristine in the summer by placing garbage cans in various spots on the beach, the cans often spill over, leaving plastic cups, bags and leftover food available for the wind to carry and for seagulls to feast on.

Seneca Smith, a 21-year-old Southampton resident who works as a parking lot attendant at Coopers Beach, said it is her crew’s responsibility to empty out the garbage cans throughout the day. But their day ends at 5:30 p.m.—after that, the garbage cans don’t get emptied until the next morning.

“Last night, there was a concert down here,” Ms. Smith said one day recently. “The crews cleaned until 9 p.m., but it was still bad in the morning.” She said paper, pizza boxes, foam cups, dirty diapers, condoms and full soda bottles were left all over the parking lot when they arrived that morning.

Nicole Castillo, a member of Citizens for Access Rights—an organization involved in a legal battle over the use of a popular vehicle-accessible ocean beach in Amagansett—said CfAR believes that anything a person carries onto the beach should also be carried off by that person.

Some of the East Hampton Town beaches in the area, do not have enough garbage cans to handle the volume of trash generated on weekends, she said.

“Those trash cans seem to be constantly overflowing at the end of the beach day,” Ms. Castillo said. “If the beachgoers here followed the same rules of ‘carry out what you carry on,’ the garbage cans would not be as full.”

Fire Hazards

The “carry on and carry off” idea also pertains to fires: Many local municipalities require people to take the remains of their fires off the beach when they go.

Others have even more stringent rules. If a person wants to have a bonfire on the beach in Southampton Village, the fire marshal has to sign off—and people who start fires without a permit are subject to fines.

Southampton Village Mayor Mark Epley said the village also requires all beach fires to be in containers.

The village, he said, runs into problems enforcing the rules at the beach at night. “It’s a manpower issue,” he said. “Bonfire activity happens at nighttime, and at the beach, when other issues in the village are happening.”

Many local beaches allow bonfires with a permit, but they come with a long list of rules. For instance, some villages allow people to burn only clean wood, as opposed to chemically treated wood or lumber with nails in it—which not only is bad for the environment but also hazardous to those sitting around the fire or walking later on the beach. Fires must also be tended at all times, and they cannot be started within a certain distance from any vegetation or structures.

Most municipalities also require a pail of water to be kept near the fire, and that the fire be extinguished anytime the wind exceeds 10 mph.

When beachgoers have finished enjoying a fire, it must be completely extinguished with water, and the beach must be returned to its natural state. Simply put, the ashes cannot be buried—they must be carried off the beach. That’s because coals buried under sand become a hidden hazard: They create hot spots that can burn the feet of a beachgoer many hours after a fire was believed to be extinguished.

“CfAR recommends, first off, that beach fires are only lit in a proper container,” Ms. Castillo said. She added that the fire should be doused with a bucket of water, and the ashes should be allowed time to cool. Once they cool, she said, the remains should be carried off the beach.

The Shinnecock East County Park in Southampton has garbage cans set up near the exit specifically for people to dispose of leftover ashes.

Before having a fire on the beach, check with the local municipality to find out what the specific laws are.

Clean

Up

After Poochie

Dogs are called “man’s best friend,” but when it comes to dog poop, that term goes out the window, as some people would prefer to spend their time doing anything but dodging waste on their way to their slice of heaven on the beach.

At the same time, some beachgoers also fear the dogs themselves, worried that an unleashed dog is going to charge after them.

Most municipalities in the area have some form of requirement that dogs must be on a leash at all times. Others don’t allow dogs on the beaches, period.

In Southampton Town, dogs are not permitted on public beaches between April 2 and September 30. At all other times, dogs are required to be on a leash and under immediate supervision and control, according to the town’s “Doggie Do’s and Don’ts” document. The document also points out that dogs cannot be within 50 feet of areas that are blocked off to protect piping plovers and other endangered species.

As a common courtesy, dog owners must pick up after their pets. Those who don’t may be slapped with a fine.

Ms. Kosciusko said she never walks her dog on North Sea Beach without carrying a small bag to clean up after it. In fact, she always attaches a bag to her dog’s leash before she leaves the house.

“Plastic bags are available on the beach for people to clean up after their dog,” Mr. Epley said of some of the village beaches. “Responsible dog owners clean up after their dogs.”

The “Unwritten Rules”

Some rules are not codified anywhere, but beach visitors would still do well to know and observe them.

The first rule concerns smoking. While some beaches have outlawed smoking, not all have. Smokers are expected to keep their distance from other groups that have laid claim to a spot on the beach—and to take their cigarette butts with them when they go.

“I can’t stand people who smoke or use their e-cigarettes on the beach,” said Robin Taylor, a 51-year-old nurse from Boston. Ms. Taylor was at Coopers Beach on a recent morning with her friend, Jessica Baker, a 33-year-old nurse from Tampa.

Ms. Baker said she can’t stand when people sit inches away from her at the beach, even if they’re not smoking. “They sit down with their music, and you just want to stab them,” Ms. Baker said jokingly. She said she also finds it unbearable when people sit close by with crying and screaming children who throw and kick sand.

John Kosciusko, the president of the Southampton Association for Beach Access—or SABA—pointed to a flier that members of the organization have gotten in the past. It lists things like, “Never leave refuse behind—yours or a litterbug’s” and “Keep pets on a leash.” According to the flier, these are matters of common sense.

“If people were respectful, they would clean up after themselves when they go to the beach,” Mr. Kosciusko said simply.