Betty Sees and daughter Shani Hannah are devoted members of the beach-going "Late Shift."
They call it the “Late Shift.”
They are dedicated Ocean City beach-goers who wouldn’t think of heading out to our award-winning beaches until mid-afternoon or later.
You can see them schlepping their beach chairs, coolers and boogie boards onto the sand while the majority are trudging the opposite way and heading for the showers or home.
And they wouldn’t have it any other way.
“It’s the best time to go to the beach,” said Shani Hannah of Phoenixville, PA, who was heading onto Park Place beach with her mom, Betty Sees. “I have been coming to Ocean City my whole life and this is my favorite time of day for beach time. It was a different story when I had little children. But now they are older and I have more time (for me).”
Her mom concurred.
“Late afternoon is the best. We are coming down here while most of the people are leaving. It’s really nice.”
Erik Sciortino of Yardley, PA was taking his sons Jason, 13, and Kevin to the beach, and said they were recent converts to the Late Shift.
“We’ve been coming down here around 3 p.m. the last three or four days,” Sciortino said. “We like it. It’s cooler, it’s not as crowded. Everyone can spread out more. My guys like to ride their boogie boards and they have a lot more room to do it. They aren’t crashing into other boogie boarders or swimmers. It’s almost like the whole beach opens up for us.”
David Aniloff comes to the beach early and late but finds himself well-rested and ready to swim every half hour on the Late Shift.
On Friday when OCNJ surveyed some late shifters, the temperature had peaked at 93 degrees around noon and the water was a balmy 68 degrees, according to the lifeguards. At 3:45 the air temp was about eight degrees cooler and the water was still warm.
David Aniloff of Langhorne, PA does his beach time during both the early and late shifts, and said he is particularly on his game in the afternoon.
“I’ll come in the morning,” go home and take a nap. Then I am ready to come back here. I go in the ocean about every half hour to stay cool.”
Scott Mills of Holland, Pa and Mike Zecca of Warrington, PA, echoed the sentiments. Mills ahs been coming to OC for all of his 33 years and Zecca’s been coming about 10. They both prefer the later time.
Scott Mills (left) of Holland PA and Mike Zecca of Warrington, PA both prefer coming to the beach when the sun is not so hot and the beach not so crowded.
“The sun is not as hot and the beach is sparser. It’s a lot more laid back,” Mills said.
Zecca said typically, the afternoon shift sees a nice change in temperature and vibe. “You might get a cooler breeze this time of day and everyone is more interested in hanging out,” he said.
Sally Cocozza is an Ocean City native and Gardens resident who swears by the late shift. “I come down here with my children and I do like it more (coming late) because it is just more relaxing. I can spend more time at the beach, Its easier for me to come in the afternoon and stay into the end of the day, as opposed to coming early when its hotter.”
She said that she left a beach tag back at her house for her son to use and realized she left last year’s tag.
“But it doesn’t matter because the (tag-checkers) have left,” she said with a laugh.
Ocean City native Sally Cocozza prefers to come to the beach in the late afternoon and stay into the early evening.
