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San Diego, CA \u2013 People jump into the ocean despite warnings from San Diego Lifeguards at Sunset Cliffs on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, in San Diego, CA. (Brandon Pollard \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\nIn the last week of July, at least two people were seriously hurt at the picturesque bluffs of Sunset Cliffs, a city landmark that for years has drawn walkers, photographers, tidepoolers and \u2014 to the ire of lifeguards \u2014 cliff divers.<\/p>\n
But the recent mishaps didn\u2019t appear to have fazed dozens of young adults and kids who were seen continuing to jump into the frothing water below.<\/p>\n
On July 29, a group of youths made the more than 20-foot jump, risking life and limb to clear the rocks below. Depending on the time of day and how high the tide is, the rocks can be more or less exposed, changing the calculation a jumper needs to make to land safely.<\/p>\n
The group of young people was eventually greeted by multiple San Diego Fire-Rescue lifeguards, who, through their loudspeaker, ordered the kids not to jump and warned them of the dangers.<\/p>\n
The prospective cliff jumpers dispersed, but a handful returned a half hour later to jump.<\/p>\n
According to city officials, cliff jumping (or jumping into the Pacific Ocean or Mission Bay from any point higher than 5 feet above the water) is banned by law due to the danger it brings to participants and first responders in the water.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, July 26, a 17-year-old boy jumped from the cliff and landed on the rocks below, striking his backside before crashing down into the water, according to fire authorities. The boy was taken to a hospital with unknown injuries, and an update on his condition was not immediately available.<\/p>\n
A second injury occurred the following Tuesday around 7:50 p.m. when a man, suspected of jumping, was climbing the cliff face and fell on the rocks below. An off-duty U.S. Coast Guard member then entered the water to keep him afloat until lifeguards could arrive and pull the man out. The man who fell from the cliff was taken to a hospital with \u201ctraumatic injuries,\u201d Fire Department officials said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a reminder that jumping off of Sunset Cliffs isn\u2019t just illegal \u2014 it\u2019s incredibly dangerous,\u201d lifeguard officials said in a social media post. \u201cPlease avoid these areas to prevent injuries or worse. It\u2019s not worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n
San Diego, CA \u2013 People jump into the ocean despite warnings from San Diego Lifeguards at Sunset Cliffs on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, in San Diego, CA. (Brandon Pollard \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n
San Diego police said officers work alongside city park rangers and lifeguards to issue misdemeanor citations to cliff jumpers. But even the threat of a ticket has not stopped the illegal activity from occurring, said police Lt. Cesar Jimenez.<\/p>\n
A jump-off point that has become famous over the years after being featured in a number of dramatic photos and videos is located near Osprey and Froude streets. Known to locals as the Arch, the spot is well known for having a land-bridge over the water that gives jumpers unique access to the rising tide that reaches a depth high enough to jump into.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring busy times of the year, officers will monitor the cliffs and give warnings to those gathered in the area,\u201d Jimenez said. \u201cThis is normally a deterrent; however, misdemeanor citations for adults can be issued, and infraction citations to minors can be issued as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
The situation was exceptionally perilous in late July and early August due to ongoing rip tide currents and violent waves being brought to Baja California and Southern California beaches by Hurricane Genevieve.<\/p>\n
But Sunset Cliffs has been a hotspot for thrill-seekers for decades, and some Point Loma residents, as well as residents from nearby communities, have been calling for it to be more heavily regulated and the city\u2019s cliff jumping ban to be more strictly enforced.<\/p>\n
One nearby resident said that over the last four to five years, he\u2019s seen the number of people jumping from the cliff\u2019s edge grow, reaching as many as 150 on particularly hot weekends. He said he believed a large number of people in the groups heard about the jumping spot purely through social media and are not good enough swimmers to be challenging the tricky tides.<\/p>\n
During a recent weekday, Los Angeles resident Joaquin Herrera, who was on vacation with his wife and wanted to see the natural geographic formations along the coastline, said he understood why cliff jumpers would choose this particular spot, but he also realized the inherent danger in the activity.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe put some guardrails up, which would maybe mean less people out here,\u201d Herrera said. \u201cIf it\u2019s an isolated incident, OK, fine; but if this is something that seems to be happening a lot, you have to think about security.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the last week of July, at least two people were seriously hurt at the picturesque bluffs of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":420753,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[7,3365,2579,2580,74,84,76,75,77],"class_list":["post-430273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-california","tag-point-loma","tag-point-loma-ob-monthly","tag-point-loma-ob-monthly-news","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-county","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=430273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430273\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/420753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}