Why the beach wars are hotter than ever this summer

When it comes to the beach, it seems everybody is getting a bit salty.

Whether it’s dogs scampering off-leash, jet-skis gliding dangerously close to swimmers, music blasting from portable speakers or nude bathing, most beachgoers have an opinion.

Then there’s been this summer’s favourite punching bag: the cabana.

Cabanas line Safety Beach from end-to-end on Saturday, January 11.Credit: Joe Armao

As photos of cabanas blanketing the country’s most popular beaches circulated online and prompted a fierce backlash, even Prime Minister Anthony Albanese chimed in, declaring it was “not on” to set up the portable shades simply to hog a spot.

“[The beach is] a place where every Australian is equal. And that’s a breach of that principle, really, to think that you can reserve a little spot as just yours,” Albanese said.

Video captured by The Age on Saturday at Safety Beach, a narrow popular stretch on the Mornington Peninsula, shows people pitching cabanas as early as 7am. Many had not returned by the time The Age left in the early afternoon.

The number of people flocking to Victorian beaches has surged.

Life Saving Victoria data reveals beach visits soared from 2020-21, when there were 3.7 million visits to patrolled beaches, before peaking at 4.6 million in 2022.

Although numbers have come down, they are far higher than pre-pandemic levels, when annual attendance was well below 3 million.

Stretches of sand that once seemed abundant are getting more crowded. With that comes competition for space, a test of beachgoers’ tolerance of others and questions around how to manage differing interests on public land.

Mornington Peninsula Mayor Anthony Marsh said the region’s coastline was overrun with people erecting cabanas early in the morning then heading home until the afternoon – an act he labelled “un-Australian”.

“A beach is a public asset, it’s not there to mark your stake and come back when it suits. Down here, there’s more demand than there is space.”

Marsh said cabana regulation wasn’t on the cards at this stage. The council is instead focused on another controversial beach target: jet-skis.

It is among several groups campaigning for larger jet-ski exclusion zones and dedicated access lanes to combat a spike in reckless behaviour.

With so many competing beach uses, Marsh pleaded for the public to be kind to one another.

Surf Coast Shire acting mayor Libby Stapleton said there was no doubt that beach crowds were getting bigger.

“It just becomes more important for everyone to be respectful of each other’s right to be there.”

Stapleton said there was nothing wrong with using cabanas appropriately.

Organisational psychologist Rob Curnow at Olivers Hill Beach, Frankston.Credit: Penny Stephens

“There’s a real sense of entitlement that comes with staking out your plot of land and disappearing for two or three hours,” she said. “This is a space for everyone to enjoy.”

Rob Curnow is a community psychologist and founder of Community Change, specialising in influencing change.

He says it’s no wonder people are so fired up: it’s an Australian tradition to be able to go the beach and – unlike in parts of Europe, where visitors must pay for a chair – easily snag a spot on the sand without a dispute about how much territory is being taken up.

“There’s always been enough space for everybody. But with jet-skis and cabanas and new toys, that space is rapidly disappearing and competition for the prime spot in an unregulated environment creates problems.”

Curnow said that what was playing out on Australian beaches was a case of the “tragedy of the commons”, a social phenomenon where a freely available resource is overused to the point it can become ruined altogether and everybody suffers.

“The aim is to prevent the situation reaching a point where nobody benefits or enjoys going to the beach.”

Curnow said most people wanted to do the right thing and just needed to be reminded of a beach user’s social contract, although swaying behaviour required a mixture of recommendations, regulations and signage.

Liam Smith, Monash University professor and director of BehaviourWorks Australia, said a gentle approach would be to employ “nudge theory”, which involves promoting messages that shape people’s decisions without limiting their choices.

Cabanas at Bondi Beach on Australia Day in 2023.Credit: Brook Mitchell

One way could be to tell cabana owners that most people set them up at the back of the beach and do not abandon them for hours at a time.

“Because we’re pack animals, we tend to follow suit.”

Nudges could also be done at the point of sale, Curnow said, for example by teaching cabana buyers what sort of behaviour shows others that they are a responsible and considerate beach user.

Smith said that when it came to using cabanas, sun protection and melanoma awareness were bigger drivers than claiming space.

Jet-skis lined up at a beach in Rye.Credit: Mechelle Cheers

He said there was scope for stronger action from authorities to ensure all beach-goers could share and enjoy the public amenity.

For now at least, unlike jet-skis, cabanas seem to have more of an amenity impact than safety. A Life Saving Victoria spokesman said there had been no reports of cabanas impacting their operations.

Smith suggested the introduction of zoning for cabanas could help keep everyone happy. But he said the most important thing for a day at the beach was to make sure everyone was safe.

“The No.1 principle needs to be safety and access for people to recreate and swim between the flags,” he said.

The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.