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Photos: County lines separate a day at the beach from empty sand

Southern California is having its first big heat wave of the year. Residents are ready to cool off at beaches, but many in L.A. County are closed due to the pandemic. Here are a few scenes from across the Southland.

Thousands of beachgoers enjoy a warm, sunny day on the sand in Huntington Beach amid state-mandated stay-at-home restrictions. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

An aerial view of beachgoers Saturday in Newport Beach.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

A woman walks on deserted Venice Beach, which is among closed beaches in L.A. County. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

An aerial view shows beachgoers in Newport Beach. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

A man plays fetch with his dog on Rocky Beach in Topanga despite law enforcement efforts to keep people away. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Huntington Beach police patrol the beach near the pier. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

In Santa Monica police keep watch over the empty beach and closed bike path. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

People crowd the bike path around the pier in Huntington Beach. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

The beach near Veterans Park in Redondo Beach remains closed Saturday because of the coronavirus pandemic. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times)

Trying to beat the heat in Newport Beach. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Kennedy, 2, and her 6-year-old brother Jackson play in the sand near the Strand in Manhattan Beach. The Bobo family drove in from Perris. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times)

Beachgoers fly a kite in the surf in Ventura. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

Bowie Davis, 3, plays in her kiddie pool with her father, Ed Davis, by her side at their home near the Strand in Hermosa Beach. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times)

A surfer catches a wave in Newport Beach, where the sand drew a crowd weary of isolation. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Neighbors practice social distancing while enjoying the weather near the Strand in Hermosa Beach. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times)

Elizabeth Robles of Laguna Beach got a $30 ticket after parking in a no-parking zone to visit Salt Creek Beach in Dana Point to surf. “The ticket is worth it to me. I broke my arm recently and haven’t surfed in eight months,” she says. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Parking was restricted severely along Pacific Coast Highway over the weekend, with Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies trying to keep people off closed beaches. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Beachgoers, ignoring social distancing rules and beach closures, walk in groups to the stairs leading to Salt Creek Beach in Dana Point. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

A man pleads his case with a Santa Monica police officer on the closed oceanfront bike path. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

A group of young people make a political statement as they pedal a surrey bike down a crowded bike path in Huntington Beach. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

The bike path on Ocean Front Walk in Venice was open, but police officers were out in force to keep people off the beach. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Tyler MacFarland reads a book under the pier at the beach in Ventura. “I am still working and for the last month and a half it has been just work, home, work, home,” MacFarland said. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

A pedestrian pauses to video chat on the empty beach in Manhattan Beach. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times)

Adam Choi, at center with mask, and Grace Kim walk along a trail at the beach in Ventura. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

Santa Monica police keep watch over the empty beach. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Brian Chapman, of Santa Monica, plays Frisbee with friend Kris Sims, of Santa Clarita, at the beach in Ventura. “We came up because all of the beaches in Los Angeles are closed,” Chapman said. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

The words “love” and “be kind” are woven into a fence with yellow police tape at a closed beach in Venice. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)