Police enforce safe fun at Floatopia

Police arrested at least one man and issued citations to two dozen beachgoers for possessing alcohol at a public park in Waikiki on Friday during an annual spring break fiesta known as Floatopia.

Honolulu Police Department Capt. Ryan Borges said police were monitoring social media websites to find out where the party would be this year, as it’s been held every spring break on Oahu for at least the previous two years. The party borrows its name from larger events in California, where attendees party on the beach and in the water on floating inflatable devices.

Organizers planned to hold the gathering at Magic Island, but a heavy police presence there deterred them and at about noon they moved the party to Kai­mana Beach, just Diamond Head of the Waikiki Natatorium War Memorial, Borges said.

Officers followed the party, monitoring with all-terrain vehicles and bikes and on foot in the crowd. Plainclothes officers mingled, and officers with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources patrolled in the water. At one point five officers on personal watercraft surrounded several dozen revelers and their inflatable devices in near-shore waters.

Police said about 1,000 people showed up, but the crowd appeared to grow thinner before 5 p.m.

Borges said police intentionally beefed up their presence and maintained a zero tolerance for alcohol violations out of a concern for public safety. The department did not schedule extra officers, but shifted officers from the Waikiki district already on duty to monitor the party.

Borges said two years ago, at another floating party fronting the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, one woman reported being sexually assaulted while in the water, and other revelers needed medical attention for intoxication.

At about 2 p.m. Friday one man who was not cooperating with officers was arrested for possessing alcohol in the park, Borges said.

Despite the large police presence, many revelers still had a good time.

Randy Jordan, 27, drank a couple of shots of Hennessey before arriving because he knew alcohol was prohibited. He said the officers could be intimidating, but acknowledged they were there for good reason.

"They need to be here because it would get too crazy," he said.

And revelers continued to drink, just in concealed containers, partygoers said.

Jenna Butts, 21, a University of Hawaii student, chuckled as one young intoxicated woman hung on the shoulders of a young man helping her off the beach.

"Freshies," she said.

Sitting next to her on a wall, Nicholas Paoli, 22, a construction diver in the Coast Guard, said, "If everyone here was sober, there would not be anyone here."

Some beachgoers, who usually visit Kai­mana Beach because it is quieter than other Waikiki beaches, were surprised by the party.

"What is the world is going on?" said Sue Mun, 32, of Salt Lake, who found it entertaining. "I guess it’s good for them."

Lily Hernandez, 20, asked her friends, "Why are they standing?"

But some revelers felt the police enforcement was too much.

"Instead of feeling safe, we felt watched," said Buda Jones, 21, a UH student.

Police Capt. Borges said beachgoers had a right to have fun, and reminded his officers to smile and warn revelers about the alcohol prohibitions before they opened their coolers.

"If we weren’t here it would be out of control," he said. "We’re here to protect the public."