CAIRO: Dubai's lifeguards do more than watch for drowning swimmers. They also watch for overly-affectionate beach combers. Dubai's beach guards say part of their job has now become to issue daily warnings to tourists and visitors on the beach who get intimate in public. The beach-goers may not drown in a passionate kiss, but they do face a possible arrest. “Many tourists unaware of local laws engage in some serious huddling and kissing on the beach and we have been on constant lookout, and of course warning them,” said one lifeguard at the Open Beach in Dubai. According to another lifeguard, tourists getting too hot-and-bothered on the beach are issued verbal warnings. “Only if they ignore the warnings and continue to hug and kiss do we report them to police. Very rarely have we gone down that path because most tourists listen to us when we tell them of the consequences. They are here on a holiday all they want is to enjoy their stay and return,” said the guard. One tourist, who was at the beach, said he witnessed lifeguards warning some tourists multiple times. “There was this couple who were kissing and trying to make out. At first the guards politely told them to stop. But they continued and were warned again. But the third time they were taken aside and once again strictly warned. That is when they sort of became normal,” he said. According to him fully clothed men were also not being allowed entry into the beach. “There were many men, fully clothed, and trying to enter the beach. They were all turned away,” he added. According to lifeguards, signboards on the beach clearly warn tourists against engaging in inappropriate behavior and security staff say they have been doubling up to ensure tourists do not get into trouble with local police. “Many tourists are aware of the local rules. However, there are many who are not,” he said. Conservative beliefs in the Arab world are not always understood by foreign tourists. According to the lifeguards, beaches and other areas are constantly monitored by plain-clothed policemen. In 2008 a British man and a woman were arrested after they were caught having sex on the beach. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/f0ZZe Tags: Beach, Dubai, Lifeguards, Sex Section: Latest News, Travel, United Arab Emirates
