Eight people were rescued Sunday evening after a rising tide trapped a group in a cave near Panther State Beach on the Santa Cruz County coast.
A person texted 911 just before 8 p.m. to report that several people were trapped in a cave near Davenport as the water rose, according to Cal Fire CZU. Several of the people reportedly did not know how to swim.
Cal Fire said the cave had two possible exits: through the water to a beach with bluff access, or onto a small pocket beach where the route up the bluff was too steep.
Five people who could swim waded out of the cave with help from lifeguards, authorities said. The others who could not swim were hoisted by the Coast Guard to a nearby bluff.
It was not immediately clear whether anyone was injured.
The incident happened along a rugged stretch of the North Coast near Davenport, where pocket beaches and cliffs can become hazardous when tides rise. Coast Dairies State Park includes Panther and Yellow Bank beaches, among other undeveloped beaches along the coastline.
Hazardous marine conditions had affected the Bay Area and Central Coast through the weekend, with the National Weather Service warning of dangerous surf, rip currents, sneaker waves and strong winds.
“Rising waters can rapidly trap you against coastal cliffs with no escape route,” Cal Fire in a safety message.
Anyone stranded by high tide should move to the highest safe point and call 911, the agency said, rather than trying to climb unstable cliffs or swim through heavy surf.