Quiet Ash Wednesday at Chaguaramas beaches

Despite the revelry that took place at the Queen’s Park Savannah and other venues during this year’s Taste of Carnival, the usual Ash Wednesday cool-down crowd did not flock to Chaguaramas beaches.

Life guard at Maqueripe Beach, Chaguaramas, Roger Dwarika said this was the quietest Ash Wednesday he has seen in his almost 12 years of guarding the beach.

“The whole Carnival season was relatively slow,” he said, adding a rough-seas bulletin in effect for the area this weekend also deterred people from coming.

“Surprisingly, we thought we would have gotten a crowd here for Carnival Saturday to Tuesday, but nothing. The water was rough on Saturday and Sunday especially. Those who did come down, left.”

During Newsday’s visit on Wednesday, there were fewer than 15 people on the beach and the water was still a bit rough.

“The tide is coming in and the water will get worse,” said Dwarika.

He said usually, weekends at the beach are very busy ever since the Prime Minister lifted restrictions on beaches in December.

“The weekend before Carnival was very busy. We had a very hectic crowd.”

Nearby at Williams Bay there were even fewer bathers, with only two families spotted on Wednesday morning.

Officers of the Western and Chaguaramas Development Authority (CDA) held a road block on the Western Main Road, Chaguaramas.