CLEARWATER, Fla. — For the second weekend in a row, you will be able to check to see if a Pinellas County beach is at capacity before leaving your house.
Here are 5 things to know before you go:
- The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office is calling the online tool a ‘Beach Capacity Dashboard’. The website is only active on weekends and will resume at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 15.
- Just like a traffic light, the dashboard will display red, yellow, or green, to show which beaches are open or approaching capacity. If a beach hits red, the tool will re-direct people to a nearby open beach.
- The tool is updated throughout the day by using reports from the roughly 300 law enforcement officers helping to patrol the beaches, parking lots, and nearby areas.
- Last weekend, the six main parking lots at Clearwater Beach were at capacity before 10 a.m. If you want to head to a popular beach this weekend, go early.
- People on the beach are required to stay in groups of 10 or less, and groups must stay 6-feet apart.