This run through the skate park was filmed two days after they stopped putting sand in it.



For full coverage of the skate park's burial, see this story: VENICE SKATE PARK GETS BURIED

*This story will be constantly updated with new info & photos as we get them.*
*New updates will always appear at the bottom.*
*LAST UPDATE: Sunday 12:30PM, 4-19-2020*




On Thursday morning, the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks started pouring sand into the Venice Skate Park.

While out filming the morning surf for our daily Instagram Stories, our shooter noticed some bulldozers dumping sand on the skate park and started shooting it.



Several employees were shoveling sand into all areas of the park, while the bulldozer dumped sand along the skate park's rim walkway and into the street section. And of course, as seen in our Instagram Stories, they were getting all sorts of harassment from a handful of skaters and non-skaters.



This is temporary, the sand was put into the skate park to prevent people from skating it. The skate park has been closed for several weeks now due to the stay at home orders, but too many people have been skating it, and just plain hanging out in it. So the Department of Recreation and Parks decided to do more, since the caution tape and signs didn't work.

We asked Lance LeMond, someone who has been involved with the skate park since before it was built and now works for the Parks & Rec, about this and his reply was that they are just going to put enough sand in there that will keep people from skating it.

We saw that cardboard was placed over the all the park's drains with sandbags to hold them down. But the cardboard pieces were not taped down at the edges, so let's hope the method they chose works.



According to the Department of Recreation and Parks, the weight of the sand should not be an issue. They are not putting in an amount that will cause damage to the skate park.







We also noticed that the city is now taking notes on how people at the beaches are following the social distancing guidelines. They have been watching the numbers of people wearing face masks compared to those that do not. The news networks keep doing hit pieces on how people at Venice Beach are not following the guidelines, even though we keep catching all those same reporters and cameramen not following the orders themselves.





There is no info on how long the sand is going to be in place. Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti did announce that "large gatherings" including sporting events may not be approved until 2021. With the large crowds that this skate park gets, it might be till then.









UPDATE: Friday 10:20AM, 4-17-2020
More sand being added on Friday, and @WahineKaii snapped this photo (below) of the bulldozer inside of the skate park moving sand around the street section.


Photo by @WahineKaii

The Venice Skate Park is not the only the park having this done, the same thing already happened to the San Clemente Skate park


Photo by Ryan Mata

The San Clemente Times reports: "On Monday, the City of San Clemente poured 37 tons of sand onto the concrete surface of the Ralphs Skate Court off Avenida La Pata as part of an effort to deter skaters from visiting the park during the coronavirus pandemic."

It is probably a god bet to say the Venice Skate park will end up looking like that.

UPDATE: Friday 5:30PM, 4-17-2020

Photo by Stu Munde

There's an aerial photo (above) of the skate park on Friday.

UPDATE: Friday 5:45PM, 4-17-2020

The Patch reports:
"Residents have complained that groups of people still gathered in Venice, and weren't taking the stay-home order and social distancing preventative measures serious."

We saw it almost daily, group just hanging out at the park, not keeping the six foot distance from each other, challenging the police when told to leave, etc...



UPDATE: Saturday 12:30PM, 4-18-2020


Photo by HUNTER W E ! S S

Rose Watson, the Director of Public Information at City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation & Parks made some statements on the dumping of sand in the Venice Skate Park.

Watson said Department of Recreation & Parks has filled skate parks with sand in the past in order to keep people from using them before construction has been completed.

She said so far, just the skate park in Venice has been laden with sand, but Department of Recreation & Parks will fill other skateboard facilities if people are seen gathering during the Safer at Home orders.

"We're doing this for our safety, their safety and the safety of others," Watson said. "When this is all over, trust me, we will open them, but right now it's important for them to not use the skate parks."

Meanwhile, the big network news stations are scrambling to get photos of the park:



And for now, the word we were given is that they are done adding sand to the skate park, but if people keep skating it, more will be added.


UPDATE: Sunday 12:30PM, 4-19-2020

More updates will be added as we get them. Working on saving all the Instagram Stories clips and creating one video for them all too.

For more of our coverage of the Coronavirus lockdown, closures, and how our local surf community and businesses are doing, CLICK HERE

Theo Lewitt surfing Venice Beach.
All Surflies camera footage.
Edit INNOCNTS

For the month of March, we got a ton of surf photos from a bunch of days at different spots, from Venice up to County Line.

Below is the list of Surf Spots with the days we got photos for during the entire month of March. Each link will take you to the page with a few surf photos and at the bottom of those photos there will be a link to that photographer's gallery where you can find all the surf photos for that day (many times there's well over 100 photos to check out). Most of these photographers offer high-res downloads and prints for sale.

County Line

County Line - Wednesday 3-11-2020


Leo Carrillo

Leo Carrillo - Saturday 3-7-2020
Leo Carrillo - Sunday 3-8-2020
Leo Carrillo - Tuesday 3-17-2020
Leo Carrillo - Tuesday Evening 3-17-2020


Zeros

Zero's - Monday 3-2-2020
Zeros - Thursday 3-12-2020
Zeros - Tuesday Evening 3-17-2020
Zeros - Saturday Evening 3-14-202


Topanga

Topanga - Tuesday 3-24-2020


Venice Pier

Venice Pier - Saturday 3-21-2020
Venice Pier - Sunday 3-22-2020


Wanna see last month's Photo Gallery Recap?
Click February Surf Spot Photos Recap

Sneakersnstuff Los Angeles celebrates it's one year anniversary with Vans Vault "Venice Beach Pack"

To celebrate the one-year anniversary of Sneakersnstuff Los Angeles in Venice Beach, they have collaborated with Vault by Vans on two Southern Californian staples, the OG Classic Slip-On LX and the OG Era LX, as an homage to Venice Beach and the culture and history that encompasses it.

This history of Venice Beach is a notorious one, a place where creatives and artists flourished in the 1960s and ’70s, immortalized in the history books of skateboarding forever throughout the ‘80s and coincided with a punk explosion that enveloped the beach and boardwalk into the ’90s. The design of the SNS x Vault by Vans “Venice Beach Pack” is a nod to that time - the late 80’s and 90’s and what skaters, surfers, and punks were wearing.



Both the OG Classic Slip-On LX and the OG Era LX feature a canvas upper with the iconic checkerboard print in bright neon colorways and unique SNS graphics along the sidewall as Vans has done so iconically over the years. In addition to the OG Vault by Vans Off the Wall logo hit on the heel, design details revere to orginal Vans models such as a slim fitted shape utilizing the original period correct upper patterns. Further, we see the iconic outsole undercut with hand-tooled details and tightly wrapped rubberized textile foxing only seen on vintage Vans, long-lasting thick outsole, original Vans sticky rubber, and sidewall sealing wipe. The OG build is as always, original design, original quality, and crafted the original way.



The Sneakersnstuff x Vault by Vans “Venice Beach Pack” will be available online via draw on the SNS App. The raffle concludes April 4th and pricing ranges between $79 USD (Slip-On) and $85 USD (Era). The links to the raffles are below:

Vault OG Era LX x Sneakersnstuff

Vault OG Classic Slip-On LX x Sneakersnstuff

For more of our coverage of the Coronavirus lockdown, closures, and how our local surf community and businesses are doing, CLICK HERE

UPDATED - LA Beaches & Harbors made this statement:

What does it mean when beaches are closed?

NO swimming
NO surfing
NO running
NO picnics
NO bicycling
NO volleyball


The LACoFD Lifeguard Division made this statement:

"Effective immediately, all Los Angeles County Beaches will be closed until at least April, 19th by the Order of the Public Health Officer.

The Los Angeles County Fire Departmental Lifeguard Division will continue to patrol the beaches to advise unknowing patrons of this new closure. All public piers, public beach parking lots, beach bike paths, and beach access points will be closed to reduce beach and bike path crowding and increase social distancing. We urge the public to #stayhome and practice #socialdistancing when conducting essential activities. Do your part to slow the spread of COVID-19. We’re all in this together. Stay home to save lives."

When asked if surfing was still allowed, they say to read their comment about clarification on the term beach, which is:

17.12.030 - Beach.
"Beach" means a public beach or shoreline area, inclusive of all appurtenant areas such as, by way of illustration and not by limitation, beach facilities, bicycle paths, promenades, service and emergency roads, parking lots, pedestrian stairways and access-ways, landscaping, slopes, jetties, creek beds, revetments, drains, and all navigable waters within one thousand feet from the public beach or shoreline area, bordering the Pacific Ocean owned, controlled, or managed by the County, in incorporated or unincorporated territory.
(Ord. 2012-0005 § 15, 2012: Ord. 9767

So it appears they are stating, without directly stating it, is that you are not allowed to surf in LA County till at least April 15th.

We will keep up on this as it develops.

For more of our coverage of the Coronavirus lockdown, closures, and how our local surf community and businesses are doing, CLICK HERE

“The crowds we saw at our beaches last weekend were unacceptable,” Supervisor Janice Hahn said in a written statement. “In order to save lives, beaches in LA County will be temporarily closed.”

The order goes into effect “immediately” and runs through April 19, 2020, according to the L.A. County Department of public health.

Officials said beaches will reopen when public health officials deem it safe.

“We cannot risk another sunny weekend with crowds at the beach spreading this virus,” Hahn said.

In less than a week, confirmed COVID-19 cases in L.A. County have more than tripled, climbing from 409 to 1,465 as of Friday, according to Barbara Ferrer, the director the L.A. County Department of Public Health.

“I ask that you help us by not going to out beaches and not going on our hiking trails at least for the next few weeks while we, again, try desperately to slow the spread of COVID-19,” Ferrer told residents in a news conference Thursday.

The public health order also applies to piers, promenades and beach bike paths and bathrooms across the county, officials said.

LACoFD Lifeguard Division add:
The Los Angeles County Lifeguards will continue to patrol the beaches to advise unknowing patrons of this new closure. All public piers, public beach parking lots, beach bike paths, and beach access points will also be closed to reduce beach and bike path crowding. We urge the public to stay home and practice social distancing when conducting essential activities. Do your part to slow the spread of COVID-19. We’re all in this together.

For more of our coverage of the Coronavirus lockdown, closures, and how our local surf community and businesses are doing, CLICK HERE

A statement from Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti on the closure of the Venice Pier:



For more of our local coverage of the Coronavirus lockdown, closures, and how our local surf community and businesses are doing, CLICK HERE

It's Wednesday, so here's some recent wipeout photos from our local spots.

This set of wipeout photos was shot by Six12 Media and is brought to you by Hulu.



















Click: Wednesday Wipeouts to check out the previous Wipeout Wednesday photo sets.

And don't forgot to check out Hulu if you don't have it yet. A lot of good stuff on there, and we all need good stuff to watch during this quarantine time.