A sea cave in Sunset Cliffs provided refuge for three struggling swimmers on Sunday October 12th. The three people were part of a larger group of cliff jumpers at a popular local spot known as The Arch.
The waves and backwash prevented the trio from using the usual route back up the cliff. Fortunately they found safe haven in a nearby sea cave, and then waited for the lifeguards to finish the rescue.
And they were rescued, although one had been injured. They felt trapped around 2:15 pm and got into the sea cave. Using ropes in their rescue rig lifeguards lifted the two up over onto the street side of the cliffs and had to use a stretcher for the third one. After being evaluated by paramedics, all three were let go, after being questioned by police.
Shaiene Ramirez told the press:
“The waves came after me like they pushed me off and I fell back and I couldn’t get back up and every time I would, the water kept going in my mouth.”
Several people also received tickets for making that illegal jump. A local observer, Larry OB, noted:
Smugglers Cave, also known as Pirates Cave, once had a man-made entrance tunnel that led up to the parking lot. It was filled in by the city many years ago. If that entrance had remained as a locked gate, then the massive amount of manpower and rescue gear wouldn’t have been needed on Sunday. Just one person with a key would have been needed to let the swimmers out of the cave.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
They are real lucky the tide wasnt coming in. With the unusually high tides we had over the weekend that cave would not have been sanctuary… it would be Davy Jones’ locker!
Arrr!
(What kind of coffee do pirates drink? Starrrrbucks!)
Thats right, blame the city instead of the individuals.
The reason this all happened was these young men, in the physical prime of their lives lacked the skills and judgement to be where they were given the conditions.
What this article does not say is that these were 17-22 year old males from Murietta. No charges were filed (according to other sources).
Situations like this are EXACTLY the reason the sign is there. They took the chance and lost. Actually, we the taxpayers lost.
Why were they not charged and billed the full cost of the rescue?
Kids and some oldsters have been jumping off these cliffs – at this same exact spot – for decades, as it is a local tradition. http://obrag.org/?p=86973
I get the tradition- done it many times myself.
It is a local tradition, by people who know what the hell they’re doing and understand the ocean.
If there isn’t a deterent for people who need to be rescued (fines, tickets, as per the posted sign), then the rescue dramas will continue every night and every weekend there’s a beauthiful sunset and people (ok, from inland, mostly) who don’t know squat will keep showing off to each other and getting in trouble.
It isn’t zero risk to the rescuers each time (!) and it does cost our county $. Murrieta is in Riverside County. I doubt Riverside County will be reimbursing San Diego any time soon.
Well I guess providing rescue services for kooks who get in trouble when they step in the water comes with the territory. If we dont like it we can stop promoting our beaches as a tourist attraction.
I hope these dopes got totally ridiculed by the crowd down there. Jumping off cliffs and things like this seem to be a part of showing your courage and manhood.
They failed.
There are some days when the surf is big enough and the currents are just right that even a strong swimmer can get in trouble.
[quote]Larry OB, noted:
Smugglers Cave, also known as Pirates Cave, once had a man-made entrance tunnel that led up to the parking lot. It was filled in by the city many years ago. If that entrance had remained as a locked gate, then the massive amount of manpower and rescue gear wouldn’t have been needed on Sunday. Just one person with a key would have been needed to let the swimmers out of the cave. [/quote]
@Larry OB. Rum Runners Cave and the Arch are 2 completely different places. The Arch doesn’t have any “secret” exit place.
The Arch is a great place to go have some fun on a hot day or if its the weekend. Just make sure you check the tide before you go (http://tides.mobilegeographics.com/locations/4770.html) so you don’t jump onto a rock below the waters surface. And make sure you know how to swim! There are usually a dozen or more people around on the weekends. Some act as unofficial lifeguards. But never go if there is no one there, if you can’t swim, or if you know there are strong rip tides.
Place names change over time, and that does lead to some confusion. There is no secret exit from the cave under the parking lot, because it’s pretty obvious where it was. You can see the concrete on google earth near the SW corner of the parking lot. Iside the cave you can easily find the ascending passage that pinches down where the city blocked it many years ago.
Interestingly…google earth also captures young people gathered at the Arch.