Huntington Beach is being swarmed by people looking to escape a heat wave and shelter-in-place orders ... social distancing be damned!!!

Check out the scene Friday afternoon at the famous Orange County coastal hangout ... there are people everywhere, packing the sand plus surrounding walkways and bike paths.

The sun worshippers don't seem too concerned with the number of coronavirus cases and deaths on the rise ... folks are packing in like sardines, and lots of people are not covering their faces.

Huntington Beach is one of the few games in town, as far as beaches and outdoor activities go in SoCal.

North of the OC ... cops are patrolling the Los Angeles County beaches and immediately booting any scofflaws off the sand and surf.

Ditto for the beaches in San Diego County and Laguna Beach.

The scene here in Cali is eerily similar to what we saw over the weekend in Florida ... where people packed the beaches in Jacksonville after officials lifted restrictions and reopened the sand.

It's gonna be a scorching hot weekend in SoCal ... which makes it unlikely stir-crazy people will steer clear of Huntington Beach.

tag