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The usually illegal thing you can do in San Clemente this weekend — for $1,000
A view of the San Clemente beach and pier where brave souls will jump off — for a fee.
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The cool, crazy thing you can do in San Clemente on Sunday ... for $1K
Normally, jumping off the San Clemente pier will earn you a hefty fine. But on Sunday, you can do so — legally — for a hefty donation.
Local nonprofit group Pier Pride Foundation and the San Clemente Marine Safety Organization are hosting a fundraiser to improve the pier. A $1,000 donation will allow you to jump off the pier and then swim or take a water scooter back to shore.
“ It is marine safety supervised, and it's the only legal way to jump off of San Clemente Pier, unless you go through our junior lifeguards program,” said Lori Donchak, Pier Pride board member and co-founder of the nonprofit.
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Donchak said she has jumped off the San Clemente Pier twice and it is “absolutely fantastic.”
The youngest person to jump off the pier was 16 and the oldest 80, she added.
What will the money be used for?
The funds raised on Sunday will go to sprucing up the pier in advance of the 2028 L.A. Olympics, when the surfing competition comes to town.
The San Clemente Pier, at the heart of the city, receives around 2 million visitors a year, so there’s a lot of “wear and tear,” Donchak said.
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“ This historic pier is gonna be a hundred years old in 2028 and so we are trying to put her in her very best version for 2028,” she said. “And the added special sauce is that the Surfing Olympics are gonna be at this end of Orange County.”
The funds raised on Sunday will go toward improving the entrance of the pier, including clearing out landscape at the entrance and restoring the base of the pier.
“This is like a California treasure,” she said.
How to sign up
To sign up to jump off the pier on Sunday, call (310) 739-3517.
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