Endless summer, on camera
Love to look at the ocean but can’t stand the sand?
Live webcams at 11 South Florida coastal cities let youwatch the beach— and beachgoers— in real time.
Nikki Atherton and Debra Davis, both from Indiana, were surprised and a bit uneasy to learn they were being filmed while on Deerfield Beach.
“It’s good if someone were to snatch up your purse or something while you’re in the water,” said Davis. “But it’s not good if you were, like, laying out here topless.”
Most cities said they installed beachcams so people could check the beach conditions before they head out.
In Deerfield Beach, surfers use the cameras to check the waves, while in Dania Beach, fishermen use the cameras to check for choppywater. Here’s where the beachcams are: Boca Raton The webcam in Boca Raton shows the pavilion at South Beach Park, the beach and the surf facing north. There’s a panorama shot and also the option to zoom in, or pan to get the whole view of the beach. The samewebpage also gives information about wind speeds, tide charts and the weather report. The page launched in February and has had over 20,000views in that time, with an average of 150 hits a day. Go to videomonitoring. Dania Beach The five-year-old webcam gets more than 3,000 views per day. It offers four views— two of the beach, two of the pier.
Lorenzo Briba, 75, said his friends from Trinidad check the camera to watch him fishing on the pier.
“They watch it because they want to be here,” Briba said. “I come here every day. My friends call me and say ‘you’re on the webcam, how’s the fishing?’ I say, ‘It’s great, come here!’ ”
Colleen Clark said she hoped the cameraswould “keep fishermen honest. There’s rules on what you can and can’t catch.”
She was referring to a video in which a man catches a shark on his fishing line and pulls it onto the pier, which is illegal. Go to: daniabeachfl.gov/1640/ BeachPier-WebCam Deerfield Beach Viewers can check surf conditions, look at the beach and see what the fish are up to with an underwater camera located at the end of the beach pier. Director of Public Affairs Rebecca Medina Stewart said the idea came about because of the area’s large scuba diving community.
Jake Middleton, who works at Island Water Sports surf shop, said customers frequently ask about the beachcams.
“We always recommend looking at them because it’s easier to visualize the waves than looking at the numbers,” he said.
He said the height of waves can look different depending on the beach, so the cameras make it easier for surfers to plan before they head out to the water. Go to: deerfield-beach.com/1474/Beach-Cameras Delray Beach Delray Beach’s webcam shows the view of the beach from Anchor Park facing the shoreline. It’s received over 4,000 views in the last month. The camera is also streamed to the city of Delray Beach’s YouTube account.
DonnaKaplan, a Delray resident, said she didn’t have any problem with the cameras showing those on the beach.
“There’s cameras all over theworld,” she said. “And everyone’s on Facebook putting where they are all the time anyways.”
ButMartina Colosimo, fromOhio, wasn’t so sure.
“I think they would help if someone was hurt or abducted,” she said. “At the same time, someone could bewatching if you get a wedgie or someone could be watching your kids.”
To see the webcam, check here: parks_and_recreation/ beach_conditions.php Fort Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale beach has three privately run cameras by the Courtyard Marriot. Oneshowsthebeachandnearby buildings, one zooms in on the beach and the other pans from the beach to the ocean. There’s also the option to check footage fromearlier in the day.
Resident Rosemarie Riccioroi and her friend from New Jersey, Norma, who declined to give her last name, had mixed feelings about the cameras.
Norma said the cameras were great to check the water before you head to the mydelraybeach. beach, but she wasn’t happy about the idea that video of her at the beach could appear online.
“I don’t even like having my picture taken,” she said. Go to: ftlauderdalebeachcam.com Hollywood beach There’s a camera on top of Hyde Resort with six presets that viewers can control to switch between the beach and the city’s skyline. The webcam gets about 10,000 views amonth.
Wayne Gales, the resort’s director of Sales and marketing, said he installed the camera for guests to be able to check the beach conditions.
“It’s a good idea,” said Florin Ilie, from New York. “You can plan your trip to the beach, see if there’s a lot of people.”
Shirley Gaitan, from Montreal, said, “I use it all the time to see thewaves andcheck if thewater is rough.”
Go to: hydehollywoodbeach.com/webcam Lauderdale-by-the-Sea There are two cameras; one shows the beach and pier and the other points at Anglin’s Square. The city’s had the cameras for just over a year and 28,000 hits in that time.
Patricia Leyh said she lives in Pompano Beach but always has the Lauderdale-bythebeach cams on her computer, because she likes how the cameras showcase the beach and the pavilion.
“You can see different lighting effects, like when the sun comes up,” Leyh said. “And I watch it on Sunday night when there’s people dancing in the pavilion.”
Leyh said she also likes to put painted rocks on the beach andwatch for strangers to find them.
“I’ll put one down andwatch to see who picks it up and what they do with it,” she said. Go to: lbtsevents.com/live-beach-webcam
Miami Beach/Downtown Sunny Isles beach
The Greater Miami Convention & VisitorsBureau has multiplewebcamsshowing live footage of South Beach in Miami Beach, Ocean Drive, Downtown Miami, BiscayneBay and Sunny Isles Beach. Multiple famed Miami attractions are visible fromthe cameras, including Miami Beach’s art deco buildings, Coconut Grove, Bayfront Park and the American Airline Arena. The webcams have gotten over 50,000 views this month. Go to: miamiandbeaches. Pompano Beach Pompano Beach has three webcams, whichget about20,000views a month. One is on the beach facing north towards Hillsboro Lighthouse. The second is located at Hillsboro Inlet and shows Hillsboro Park, as well as a closer view of the lighthouse, and the third shows the pier and construction of a new parking garage. There are also plans to build a new pier that will be finished in 2019 and will feature an underwater camera at the end of the pier.
“We worked very hard to get the zoom right,” said Public Information Officer Sandra King. “We didn’t want to zoom in too much on people because we didn’t think people would want to get zoomed in on.” Go to: pompanobeachfl.gov/index.php/ pages/webcam they’ve gotten Miami/
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