Coast : Estimated 200,000 Pack Orange County Beaches

Sunny skies and warm weather lured more than 200,000 people to local beaches Saturday. Most lifeguard stations reported a slow day with few rescues.

Huntington Beach State Park, which filled to capacity shortly before 1 p.m. and was closed for a short time, was the exception with about 60 rescues, lifeguard seasonal supervisor Steven Hicks said.

“Last weekend was pretty slow, about half-an-hour of rescues. Today, it’s been consistent. It’s been rescue after rescue,” Hicks said Saturday.

Elsewhere, lifeguards such as Dan Mills in Seal Beach, which attracted about 18,000 people, reported “a very peaceful, very quiet day with beautiful weather.”

According to the National Weather Service, the high temperature over much of Orange County was 92 degrees Saturday. At the beaches, however, lifeguards reported the temperature in the high 70s and low 80s, with water temperature in the high 60s and very little surf.

“There’s been minimal rescue activity because there’s not really any surf,” Laguna Beach lifeguard Cindy Riecks said. About 25,000 to 30,000 people trekked to Laguna Beach Saturday while 75,000 more sunned at Newport Beach.

“It’s quite warm. . . . We were worried it was going to be a scorcher, but it’s pretty nice out here,” said lifeguard supervisor Scott Melvin of Bolsa Chica State Park, which was visited by about 30,000 beachgoers Saturday.