VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Thursday marks the first day of summer, and with these hot temperatures, look for a crowd at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront.

You can see umbrellas lined up on the sand as beachgoers brace for the heat.

“Not too hot, not too much wind, too — perfect,” said Derek Gilmore of Richmond while sitting under an umbrella playing a drum on the beach. “I take the big umbrella. I got my big hat too, just in case. You can never be too careful.”

That’s good advice, according to Deputy Chief Gary Felch with the Virginia Beach Lifesaving Service.

“It’s going to get hot for the next several days,” Felch said.

He is preparing lifeguards at the beach for the rising temperatures heading our way, and the possible dangers that come with the extreme heat.

“Generally, it’s people that have been out in the sun for too long — have not hydrated properly or have had too much alcohol,” Felch said.

The Cochrans came down for the week from northern Virginia, they too trying to escape the heat. One was in the shade, and another in the sun.

“A cooler of water, Gatorade for sure, and ice,” said Robert Cochran, the one not sitting in the shade.

“My water, my umbrella and my husband,” said Terri Cochran.

Does he keep her cool?

“He can blow on me — fan me,” she said.

Another tip that’s a step in the right direction is to protect your feet from the hot sand.

“Days like today when it’s 80, 85 degrees, the sand still gets up to 120, 130 degrees,” Felch said. “There have been times when the sand gets as high as 140, 150 degrees, and it will burn your feet.”

And as for Coleman beating his drum. It’s a cool way to beat the heat.

Felch recommends that when it’s hot to stay in the shade as much as possible and to drink plenty of fluids. He also said not to bring your pets, as it’s illegal to bring them to the beach from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and they can very easily burn their paws on the hot sand.