Truth matters. Community matters. Your support makes both possible. LAist is one of the few places where news remains independent and free from political and corporate influence. Stand up for truth and for LAist. Make your year-end tax-deductible gift now.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Photos: Surfers Catch Hurricane Waves Off The California Coast
Yesterday Hurricane Marie created some crazy waves off the coast of Southern California, bringing out the wave-seekers who were brave enough to catch up to 30-foot swells. Others stood safely on the sand and watched, while reciting Point Break quotes.
Longtime professional surfer Laird Hamilton (if you never saw his Iconoclasts episode with Eddie Vedder, watch here) was one of the many drawn to scene in Malibu, which was lucky for one man—TMZ reports he helped save another surfers life, who had lost his board in the rough seas.
The National Weather Service warned swimmers and surfers that beaches would have large waves and rip currents, but as one Seal Beach lifeguard notes in the below video, they "understand people live for this size of surf."