Depends to be honest Snowy...for those I wanted 1 or 2 people in the frame.
I wanted to show how the place was, how it is in real life, rather than how I could manipulate it to look....
I had the one surfer and woman in the top pic as I wanted to show there were people there, but that it wasn't overcrowded.
Just a subtle aspect of what people use the area for
I can see what you're saying though, often I exclude people....but sometimes people are what brings a picture alive....especially when they are in the background...and not interfering with the shot. As if they are integrated....not the focul point

Thank you for the comments anyway guys =)

They don't give their full effect so small, thats about 25% of their full size...I like them filling the whole screen as you can 'get into' the image more.