Monster Waves Make Surfers Happy and Lifeguards Busy

Monster waves that scared even the lifeguards. Riptides that dragged hardy swimmers out to sea. Nervous mothers. Stoked surfers.

Across Southern California on Wednesday, the biggest swell of the summer--indeed, one of the biggest in recent memory--turned normally placid waters ferocious.

At Newport Beach’s famous ripping ground known as the Wedge, surfers braved 20-foot waves. At Malibu’s Surfrider Beach, waves reached 12 feet, three times the normal height. And Ventura County beaches reported swells of up to eight feet.

“It’s definitely one of the biggest south swells in my 34 years,” said Kevin Komick, before he plunged into the water at Surfrider. “I had no idea it would be this big.”

The rough seas threatened piers along the coast. In Venice and Manhattan Beach, waves reached the undersides of the piers, while in Huntington Beach, powerful waters shook the structure, lifeguards said.

Weather analysts say a big storm several hundred miles off Tahiti--with waves 45 feet high--caused the unusual southern swell, which reached local shores Tuesday and was expected to diminish by Saturday.

Lifeguard officials across the region dispatched extra personnel to watch over beaches that were flooded by surfers hoping to catch the winter-like conditions. The lifeguards warned everyone to beware of powerful riptides that drag everything in their paths out to sea.

They also hoisted red flags at lifeguard beach towers, signaling dangerous surf conditions.

By late Wednesday afternoon, about 50 people had been rescued from riptides at the Wedge in Newport Beach, said Orange County lifeguard Lt. Jim Turner. Two people were cited at the surfing spot for continuing to bodyboard the big waves after 10 a.m., when bodyboarding is restricted.

At Port Hueneme in Ventura County, the conditions prompted lifeguards to keep would-be swimmers on the sand. At nearby Buenaventura State Beach, lifeguards pulled 10 people from the surf.

Along the Los Angeles County coast, lifeguards had rescued about 150 people by late Wednesday afternoon, most of them between Venice and Topanga State Beach.

“We’re making rescues right and left,” said Capt. Tom Viren, a Los Angeles County lifeguard official in Santa Monica. “We want to warn people to be very observant of the lifeguards when they tell you to move in to shore. Ninety percent of the people do not need to be in water above waist-deep in conditions like this.”

But such warnings did little to dampen the enthusiasm of ardent surfers, who made a point of showing up at south-facing beaches--those that bore the brunt of the southern swell.

“It’s an adrenaline rush,” said Robert Rackett, 24, as he emerged from the water at Surfrider Beach, where 150 to 200 surfers showed up Wednesday--three times the usual number.

Rackett drove an hour and a half with friends from Lancaster to surf at Manhattan Beach and Malibu. Taking a break from the waves, he declared the day a success. “The only thing you can think of is going down the wave,” he said.

Some surfers even turned out early in the morning before lifeguards reported to work. The element of danger, they said, made the sport more exciting.

“Because the waves are giant, it’s more of a challenge, a bigger thrill, more speed, bigger barrels and bigger air sections to hit,” said Chad Barba, 24, who arrived early at the Wedge in Newport Beach. “I don’t know if I can describe it in words; it’s exhilarating.”

But not everyone was ready to tempt the huge surf, which intimidated some at the Wedge. They were content to watch from the safety of the shoreline.

“I’m a little too chicken,” said Jake Jahn, 16, of Long Beach, who has been bodyboarding for four years. “It’s way too big for me. I’m afraid of not being able to hold my breath long enough.”

Even a few lifeguards had second thoughts about braving the water.

Early Wednesday, Port Hueneme lifeguards took a regular 1 1/2-mile training swim and the fast-moving current swept them under the city pier.

“It was pretty scary,” said rookie lifeguard Cande Diaz, 17. With her was 18-year-old Kerri Frontino, who has worked the beach for two years. “The waves break pretty hard and fast, so it’s a tough swim.”

Some surfers stayed away from the waves, fearing an injury in waters crammed with fellow surfers.

“I’m afraid I’ll be sitting and all of a sudden get hit upside the head with a board,” said Aaron Detty, 20, who made the trip from Lancaster with his friend, Rackett. “I’m staying out.”

Parents were keeping their children out of the surf.

Joyce Paletz, who grew up in Van Nuys but now lives in Reno, kept her four teenage children close by at Surfrider Beach as the waves crashed just feet away. The family, on vacation in Los Angeles, waded through the surf’s edge but decided to build sandcastles and leave the waves to the surfers.

“When I got my first glimpse of a wave, my eyes just about popped out of my head,” said Paletz, who used to spend her summer days at Surfrider. “I was shocked. This is pretty incredible.”

Times staff writer Binh Ha Hong and correspondent Scott Hadly contributed to this story.