All’s Quiet So Far on a Long Weekend on the Beachfront : Holiday: Police take special measures to avoid unruly parties, including an early 8 p.m. shutdown on the sand in Huntington Beach.

Bracing for an Independence Day tradition of unruly beach parties and gridlock, a full complement of police officers were dispatched Saturday to begin a long weekend watch in local coastal communities.

Although police reported no major incidents, authorities were clearly demonstrating a presence with the early closure of municipal beaches in Huntington Beach on Saturday night and the planned shutdown of streets today on the crowded Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach.

In Huntington Beach, officers began clearing the beaches early Saturday evening to begin enforcing a special 8 p.m. closure time that will extend through tonight to ensure public safety and ease holiday pressure on officers who are also patrolling a country fair in the city.

The early shutdown covers about 3 1/2 miles of city-controlled beaches, from the Huntington Bluffs to Beach Boulevard.

It took authorities only 20 minutes to clear the beach, a process that on most normal summer weekend days can take nearly an hour, said Police Sgt. Chuck Thomas.

“Everybody has been on their best behavior,” Thomas said. “I think most people came early to have a good time in the sun and went home early to have a relaxing evening.”

Still, there was plenty of disappointment in the crowd, many of whom came loaded down with supplies of firewood to burn into the night.

“This is ridiculous,” said Bill Dye of Artesia, who had planned to celebrate his 23rd birthday on the beach with a evening gathering around a fire ring. “This is summertime. They should be keeping the beaches open longer, if anything. We have planned this for three weeks. This surprised me.”

A short distance away, the Cisneros family of Buena Park said they arrived expecting to stay at least until 10 p.m. to enjoy a family reunion dinner of oysters and shrimp cooked over a beach fire.

“By the time everybody gets here, it’s going to be time to go,” said 39-year-old John Cisneros as the day wound to a close. “At least this year, the whole family will leave together.”

In Newport Beach, officials planned to flood neighborhoods near the beach with about 150 police officers to keep order on a holiday that in previous years has been marred by violence.

By late Saturday, Police Sgt. Andy Gonis said officers were enjoying a light work detail, however, remarkable only for calls to break up the occasional water balloon fight among some enthusiastic vacationers.

“Things are very quiet so far,” Gonis said. “The deployment (of police) is just to make sure there are no problems. We wanted to make a very early presence.”

Perhaps the most pressing problems for authorities seemed to be centered in the surf. Newport Beach lifeguards reported more than 100 rescues as bathers were caught in strong rip currents produced by west sea swells.

“This is a very busy day for us,” said Lt. Jim Turner of the city’s lifeguard service, which rescues between 40 and 50 people on a typical summer weekend day. “We’re pulling out people who didn’t plan on swimming in water over their heads. The rip currents are taking them out to sea.”

Turner said there were no serious injuries.

Newport Beach authorities are expecting a busier day today, though, as officials have planned to restrict access to large areas in the near-beach neighborhoods, including 100 blocks between Prospect and 32nd streets.

The street closures are part of a holiday strategy initiated in response to “outcries from residents deploring past years’ riotous conditions,” Newport Beach police said.

“You never know what’s going to happen,” Gonis said.