A couple of weeks back, I escaped the L.A. heat by driving two hours south to San Diego’s famed Ocean Beach, home of the majestic Sunset Cliffs.
Palm trees lined Sunset Cliffs Boulevard, one of the seaside enclave’s main streets, where residents rode golf carts, bikes and scooters throughout town and to the beach. Ocean Beach embodies the California small surf town.
At the cliffs, several young men lined up near an arch and jumped into the nearby waters. The fall was about 15 feet near the arch, but 30 to 40 feet from the ledge near the street.
Most hesitated, but all abandoned their fear and jumped despite a series of high-profile accidents this summer. Those incidents led to increased policing, along with concerns and debates from locals weighing safety against the values of youthful rites of passage.
Here’s excerpts from my article.
(Sandy Huffaker/The Los Angeles Times)
There’s nothing like California
Iowa resident Marcus English, 17, said he’d probably be hosting bonfires back home if he wasn’t diving off the cliffs.
English wangled a stop during a weeklong family trip to California that included national park visits to stop by Sunset Cliffs, which he saw on social media.
The vistas and cool breezes represented quintessential California to the Midwesterner, equal parts “what I saw on Instagram and a movie.”
“It’s just so freeing,” he said of his leaps. “There’s nothing like it.”
(Sandy Huffaker/The Los Angeles Times)
Six fractured vertebrae
This summer’s safety debate reached a fever pitch in late July. A 17-year-old jumper, according to social media footage, struck the ledge with his backside and crashed into the water.
The incident was covered extensively by San Diego media and resulted in increased policing near the bluffs.
For his part, the unnamed 17-year-old said in a since-deleted social media post that he suffered six fractured vertebrae and a badly bruised tailbone and needed nine stitches in his foot. The Times could not independently reach him.
Tracking down the cliff incidents
Attention surrounding Sunset Cliffs injuries ebbs and flows much like the current, according to Frank Gormlie, a longtime San Diego County resident who tracked incidents more than a decade ago.
Gormlie, the founder and editor of Ocean Beach’s online newspaper, OB Rag, published a list in his October 2015 article “Death and Distress at Sunset Cliffs — 2005 to 2015,” which he described as “incomplete” because of unreported incidents.
His research documented 11 deaths and dozens of injuries during that time span. Those statistics came from jumps, along with vehicular, climbing and health incidents.
Some incidents had little to do with jumping, such as a surfer smashing into the rocks. But a 43-year-old woman slipped and fell to her death in 2015, while two jumpers needed crane-assisted rescues after suffering serious injuries, according to Gormlie.
“People have been visiting the Sunset Cliffs for years because it has a beauty that shocks,” Gormlie said when asked to explain what draws people to the site. “But I think social media has found its way to the next generation of adventure seekers who don’t know about the dangers.”
Jumping can result in a fine
The teen’s accident in July was one of three incidents and subsequent rescues spanning 15 days, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
All rescues involved San Diego Fire-Rescue Department lifeguards and personnel, said Candace Hadley, Fire-Rescue public information officer.
Hadley wanted to remind potential jumpers that the act of leaping from the cliffs violates a San Diego municipal code and could result in fines of $100 or more. Frequent fliers could be smacked with $1,000 fines.
“Cliff jumping isn’t just illegal in San Diego. It’s extremely dangerous,” Hadley said. “One misstep could lead to a life-altering injury or worse.”
A local viewpoint
Lyne Miller, 80, has lived her whole life in Ocean Beach and said she promised her mom that she “would never jump.”
Miller says the number of teens arriving at the beach, probably driven by social media, “is more than ever.”
But she acknowledged that locals had been jumping at Sunset Cliffs since at least the 1950s in surf-centric Ocean Beach.
“I don’t necessarily feel negative about the jumpers,” she added. “I just wish they would be smarter and jump from safer spots at better times.”
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Today’s recipe
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Have you ever wondered why your homemade kale salad just doesn’t taste as snappy and crisp as the one you recently had at a restaurant? This recipe might be the closest option you have to leaving your house.
Photo of the day
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford passes against the San Francisco 49ers during the second half of their game on Friday in Melbourne.
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Games
Here’s today’s mini crossword, plus our other free, daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and jigsaw games.
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Jack Dolan, investigative reporter
Hugo Martín, assistant editor, fast break desk
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew J. Campa, weekend writer
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