Isla Vista beaches were closed last weekend due to a Floatopia scare—with a Facebook event estimating over 14,000 attendees. But the worry has extended to this weekend, as authorities suspect the event may have been postponed, and another closure is slated to occur April 9-10.
Two years has not been long enough for the authorities to forget Floatopia 2009: a beach party in Isla Vista where an estimated 12,000 people crammed onto the sand with inflatable pools and tubes and alcohol in hand. After the event the beach was filled with litter and human waste, according to the Santa Barbara County Parks Department. The Parks Department preemptively prevented a repeat by closing the beaches in 2010—for one weekend—on the expected date of the event.
For the second weekend in a row this year, the county announced that the beaches will be “closed to public entry to protect public health and safety and to protect the beach from excessive waste and litter.” The Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Department is slated to implement the closure.