— Daily Freeman-Journal file photo The City Council will review a plan for opening the Webster City municipal pool. The plan calls for some capacity and social distancing restrictions.— Daily Freeman-Journal file photo The City Council will review a plan for opening the Webster City municipal pool. The plan calls for some capacity and social distancing restrictions.— Daily Freeman-Journal file photo The City Council will review a plan for opening the Webster City municipal pool. The plan calls for some capacity and social distancing restrictions.— Daily Freeman-Journal file photo The City Council will review a plan for opening the Webster City municipal pool. The plan calls for some capacity and social distancing restrictions.— Daily Freeman-Journal file photo The City Council will review a plan for opening the Webster City municipal pool. The plan calls for some capacity and social distancing restrictions.— Daily Freeman-Journal file photo The City Council will review a plan for opening the Webster City municipal pool. The plan calls for some capacity and social distancing restrictions.

To some, the beginning of summer means trips to the beach. Yet in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there had been questions as to whether those beaches would be open for people to enjoy after nearly three months of stay-at-home orders.

As mid-June approaches, the answer as to whether beaches are open is “well, kind of.”

While beaches in Ocean City, Maryland, or Alpena, Michigan report that it’s close to business as usual, other locales across the nation are still taking precautions — in some cases opening at limited capacity — as states advance through their respective COVID-19 recovery plans.

We reached out to business owners and local officials around the country to get a gauge for how different beaches are approaching the summer seasons. Here’s what we found.

Ocean City, Maryland

When the state of Maryland gave the green light for businesses like Dandy Don’s Bike Rentals to reopen May 9, owner Don Enste held off for a little over a week, unsure of how things would go.

In the beginning, it was a bit of a mess.

People were “not following guidelines, no masks, on top of each other,” said Enste, who has owned the business for 25 years. “As the weeks have gone on, people have settled down a lot.”

The last couple of weeks are traditionally senior weeks. In years past, those times are slower for Enste because the teens tend not to be active until around noon, when his bicycle rental business has to be off the Boardwalk, per city code. But he’s been seeing more families, some of whom are presumably off of work due to the pandemic, visiting the beach with their kids.

Even so, he said that few of his customers have been Marylanders.

“Everybody’s down here from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania … all up in New England,” Enste said. “I’m actually a little bit busier than normal.”

Beaches and the Boardwalk are open in Ocean City, but visitors are still encouraged to wear masks, practice social distancing and avoid gatherings of more than 10 people, according to the city’s website.

Restaurants are open for delivery, takeout and outdoor dining.

Myrtle Beach, S.C.

The beaches and many businesses are open in Myrtle Beach, while the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases is rising.

“Looking around, I think it looks like a typical mid-June at this point,” said Mark Kruea, public information director for the City of Myrtle Beach. “We are the Myrtle Beach that you have come to know and love; we’re just not at full strength.”

Restaurants are open, but with 50 percent capacity indoors, he said.

The popular vacation destination saw a spike in COVID-19 cases with 181 confirmed during the first week of June, according to the Myrtle Beach Sun-News, which said the rise is likely linked both to more people being out and about and an increase in testing. The following week, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control labeled Horry County, where Myrtle Beach is located, a hot spot for the virus.

City officials are redoubling efforts to encourage social distancing, Kruea said, adding they don’t want to see a return to heavier restrictions, many of which were lifted last month.

“Bring patience and bring a mask,” he said. “Wearing a mask is not required, but we certainly recommend that you do that.”

The social-distancing practice of keeping at least six feet between individuals is also still recommended in businesses and on beaches.

“Realistically, it’s fairly easy to social distance on the beach,” Kruea said.

As of June 9, there were 803 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Horry County. But SCDHEC statistics also list 4,933 estimated cases, which “are based on evidence that for every known case of COVID-19, there could be up to 9 people with the virus who remain unidentified in the community.”

Michigan

At Starlite Beach in Alpena, Mich., Loni Schroeder watched as her five year old daughter Kenlea Schroeder tossed stones into Lake Huron on Thursday afternoon. The temperature had only made it to 66 that day, so they were just hanging out on the shoreline enjoying the sunshine.

Kenlea was excited to be near the water even if it wasn’t hot enough to go swimming.

“I love to go everywhere!” she exclaimed.

Her mom was enjoying the beach as well.

“It’s my happy place,” said Loni Schroeder. “I love hearing the waves crash and watching the water, and watching her have fun.”

The state is now heading into Stage 4 of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Safe Start Plan, which allows for gradual reopening of outdoor recreation areas with social distancing in place.

Schroeder has no qualms about crowds of people congregating at the beach as things reopen after the COVID-19 quarantine period.

“If you’re outside, get fresh air, don’t wear a mask,” she said. “If you have to wear a mask outside, why are you outside?”

She added that people that go to the beach generally stay in their own groups of family and friends with whom they came, so social distancing should not be a problem.

Mary Beth Stutzman, president and CEO of the Alpena Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, said outdoor recreation, including beach-going, is a huge summer draw for those visiting Northern Michigan.

“As travel begins to wake up after our recent experience, people are taking more road trips and they are looking for outdoor recreation destinations because they can maintain social distancing and be out in the fresh air and not in enclosed spaces,” Stutzman said on Thursday.

The Alpena Area CVB covers a variety of Lake Huron beaches in the area, including Starlite, Mich-e-ke-wis and Thompson parks within the city limits, Ossineke and Negwegon beaches to the south, and Rockport and Thompson’s Harbor to the north.

State Parks, including Negwegon and Thompson’s Harbor, are under the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ jurisdiction, while other municipalities determine their own parks restrictions, under the umbrella of the governor’s guidelines.

“We are excited to open up these resources to visitors again,” Ron Olson, chief of the DNR Parks and Recreation Division, said in a June 4 press release. “We can identify with the passion and enthusiasm people have for these beautiful outdoor spaces, especially during the warmer months, and we’re working hard to make sure everything is ready.”

Because Alpena is smaller than some other Great Lakes destinations, it is a great place to visit to both save money, avoid crowded areas, all while enjoying the outdoors, Stutzman said.

“It’s an excellent thing,” Stutzman said about Alpena tourism. “The three main things that we have been following, as far as predictions of what will come back first — we’ve seen road trips, outdoor recreation, and traveling to budget destinations that are not crowded. And Alpena checks all those boxes.”

She expects tourism to kick back in, but it may not be as strong as prior years because of the pandemic.

“So we will have tourism traffic this summer, and into fall and winter, as infection rates decline and everything is opened back up again,” Stutzman said. “We will see travel, but it won’t be at the level that we’ve seen in previous years. We have a long road ahead to build back up to the levels that we were seeing. But it does position Alpena in a really good light, and we’re fortunate that we have those things going for us.”

Hawaii

In Maui County, Hawaii, most beaches are open for local patrons, but there is still a 14-day quarantine period in place pertaining to inter-island travelers until June 16.

On June 10, Hawaii Gov. David Ige extended the state’s COVID-19 emergency period through July 31. Out-of-state travelers are not currently allowed into the state.

“We are working very hard toward re-opening out-of-state travel, but we’re not there yet,” Gov. Ige said in a June 10 press release. “We are being very cautious. There are new virus flare-ups in key mainland markets – including California where more than 2,000 new cases were reported yesterday. Oregon, Arizona and Texas are also reporting their highest number of new daily cases.”

The governor’s June 10 proclamation also included “the elimination of prohibitions related to beaches, boating, hiking and shoreline fishing, as these activities are being addressed through the counties in coordination with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.”

Hawaii is currently in the yellow “Act With Care” phase, which is the third and middle phase of a five-phase reopening plan. The phases went from red “Stay At Home,” to orange “Safer At Home,” to yellow “Act With Care,” to green “Recovery,” to blue “New Normal.”

“Clearly, our low COVID-19 case numbers show we’ve contained the virus and are able to manage any clusters, without overwhelming our health care system,” the governor said in a press release. “My biggest concern is that people become complacent. We continue to emphasize that this is the new normal so everyone has to wear their masks, practice physical distancing and limit their interactions to keep from infecting others.”