It’s not just young people and it’s not just people in California. My post about sharks and alligators was a little tongue in cheek, but it was making the point that wherever you travel, it’s not a bad idea to be at least a bit aware of the local dangers. We have tourists at Disney World who are SHOCKED, shocked I tell you that there are alligators in the lake. Yes, people, it’s Disney but it’s not magic and any Florida body of water larger than a bathtub has (or will soon have) an alligator in it.
@milee30 I admit: I am one of these people SHOCKED there are real alligators at anything related to Disney. Call me a naive city slicker but there you have it.
When we moved from Boston to AZ with our two-year old, the first thing I did when we got here was talk to the natives about the local dangers. Diamondbacks (snakes, not team) and scorpions were at the top of everyone’s list, but also how to survive in general in hot, dry desert conditions. For years, I traveled with two gallons of water and a shade tarp in the trunk in case we broke down anywhere, and we drink way more water here than we did back east. But, the biggest hazard is pools. Everyone has one, and child drowning incidences sadly mark the start of the swim season and continue throughout the year. This can happen anywhere, of course, but due to the number of pools and the heat, we have too many tragic reports.
Diamondbacks, scorpions, dehydration, sunburn, and jumping chollas. Yup. Some folks naively try to pluck or pick up a piece of that cactus to grow at home. Not a good idea.
We had our kids both learn to swim by the time they were 4 years old. There are too many bodies of water they’re around NOT to have them learn. I also insisted on attending any gathering where my child would be near a body of water. Water is lovely but it does claim lives. Swimming pools and oceans and smaller bodies of water.
Don’t step or climb over the safety railing, fence or rope…
Don’t walk past the sign that says “Don’t walk past this point!”
Near my house we have a place called Gliderport where people hang/para glide over the cliffs by the ocean. My H and I go there on Saturday evenings to watch the sunset before heading out for dinner. There are all kinds of signs and ropes up that warn about crossing, but still we see many people trying to get the perfect picture near the edge of the cliffs. Emergency crews make many rescues from the cliffs every year and there have also been deaths.
You live in a beautiful place, @showmom858! 
Years ago my sister had a stunningly handsome boyfriend; unfortunately, he was not the sharpest knife in the place where they keep the knives. One day we had all driven up from Phoenix to look at the Grand Canyon. We were hiking along the “rim” aka “the edge” and he kept leaving the trail to go right up to the edge, hopping from boulder to boulder and sometimes even sliding a little on the loose scree. My frightened sister yelled at him to get back from the edge and he turned around to fix her with a withering look, explaining that “if it was dangerous, somebody would have put a fence around it.” (For anybody who hasn’t visited the GC, it’s not only an obvious, mile deep hole in the ground, it extends for miles and miles and miles cut into the rock itself, not exactly fenceable.)
We were all so stunned that it took us a while before we were able to splutter out that most people would understand that an obvious mile deep hole in the ground was so clearly dangerous that a fence wasn’t needed because people should just know it’s dangerous.
Apparently not, given all the tourists that have fallen off the edge in the past year or so.
My sister can’t decide if 20 years from now our country will more resemble the future scenes in ‘Idiocracy’ or ‘Wall - E’.
@showmom858, you’re in my area of town.
It is ridiculous how many people ignore the signs posted there!
Even the gliders aren’t safe (what with the recent crash of two gliders)!
I have my collapsible bucket in my car, when I’m at Torrey, I take it to pick up trash and other gunk that people leave on the beach.
“Don’t step or climb over the safety railing, fence or rope…”
Two stories:
- Just this past week, a guy who had come from out of state to work at Bath Iron Works went out on the town with some friends. Apparently they did some drinking, but weren't overly intoxicated. Afterwards, they walked to a dock near BIW. The guy went past a rope and fell in the water. They're still looking for his body. :(
- We visited a Hopi reservation in Arizona in 2010 with our kids. It's on Second Mesa, which sits hundreds of feet above the surrounding land. There are no ropes or fences. One tourist with a strong New York accent protested, "Aren't you worried your kids will fall off?" The guide dryly said they'd been living there for over 1,000 years and the kids had enough sense to stay away from the edge, unlike some tourists...
I was scared when my kids were little and we visited Luray Caverns. Little kids get excited and run around a bit and it would be easy to slip on the floor since it’s that super smooth stone that’s had water dripping on it for thousands of years. They could have slipped right under the safety railing since they were small and the railing was designed to be waist height for an adult. I would have appreciated a hard mesh fill that went right down to the floor.
If tourists are dumb enough to hurl themselves into a volcano, I’m starting to think we should just let them. For the good of all mankind.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/02/us/man-falls-into-kilauea-caldera/index.html
Well, it isn’t fair that folks have to put themselves at serious risk to rescue people who disregard the danger they are in. It’s really wrong.
I think that every time our Coast Guard goes out to rescue idiots in their unseaworthy vessels during a storm.
Thanks to all who expanded on and otherwise informed the OP of other waters. Riptide current dangers are posted on many Lake Michigan beaches. There are cliffs and sand dunes et al. The west coast certainly does not have any monopoly on various dangers, even cold water.
Also- nothing to do with Earth Day. Earth Day was founded by a Wisconsin senator, Gaylord Nelson, while I was a HS student. Proud of my progressive state (although recent nationwide craziness is trying to undo so much).
And rescuers have to go out in a blizzard to search for idiots in sneakers who assumed bringing a cell phone on their hike was a sufficient safety plan.
I was also going to say as a resident of the Midwest, this all applies to certainly the great lakes, but some other larger lakes and river valleys that often have cliffs and overhangs. Don’t climb without appropriate gear, training and spotting.
While you’re at it kids, don’t climb bell towers or grain elevators either.
@wis75
Actually, I posted near Earth Day because that’s when I was on the beach. When these idiots have rescuers, these rescues involve time and treasures. We waste time rescuing people who, for all intents and purposes, should have known better! Also, this puts the people who are sent out there, at risk. These are treasures. We also erode the earth, soils, plants, trees, and natural resources (treasures) to rescue an individual who wouldn’t read a sign or thought better of themselves to heed or pay attention to warnings. I’m aware of the dangers of lakes, streams, canyons, etc. all over our country.
I didn’t say that. Just wanted these new, young freshman, on CC, who come out by the THOUSANDS, to the West Coast, to consider safety and taking care of our earth. I didn’t think I would get snarky comments.
OP- you neglected even greater numbers who go to other coasts- nothing special about the one you mentioned. I think that has irritated folks.