After a few minutes, there was a dive off the arch, followed by a cannonball from the next person, a backflip from a third and then other more spectacular and daring stunts from the flock.<\/p>\n
The cliff divers, drawn to the thrills of the illicit jumps<\/a> amplified by social media<\/a>, reveled in dozens of leaps.<\/p>\n No one was injured that day, but that hasn\u2019t always been the case.<\/p>\n People jump into the water at Sunset Cliffs. San Diego officials urge visitors to avoid jumping, but that doesn\u2019t stop tourists and thrill-seekers.<\/p>\n At least three individuals were rescued after suffering injuries this summer at Sunset Cliffs, leading police to ramp up enforcement as locals debate the need for safety versus the merits of youthful rites of passage.<\/p>\n California dreaming<\/p>\n Back home in Iowa, Marcus English said he\u2019d probably be hosting bonfires or hitting up local pools in mid- to late August. Instead, the 17-year-old was at the cliffs enjoying his last few days off before beginning his senior year of high school.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are some places to jump, some lakes in Iowa,\u201d he said, \u201cbut nothing like this.\u201d<\/p>\n English wangled a stop during a weeklong family trip to California that included national park visits to stop by Sunset Cliffs, which he saw on social media.<\/p>\n The vistas and cool breezes represented quintessential California to the Midwesterner, equal parts \u201cwhat I saw on Instagram and a movie.\u201d<\/p>\n English spread out his arms, squatted and then leaped before taking a roughly 15-foot plunge from the arch into the shallow waters. He jumped multiple times on consecutive days.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just so freeing,\u201d he said of his leaps. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing like it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Hopefully I can walk again\u2019<\/p>\n Jumping happens at several places throughout the cliffs.<\/p>\n The most common launch point is from the arch, with drops ranging from 15 to 20 feet depending on the water level, said a San Diego Police Department spokesperson.<\/p>\n The more exotic and dangerous plunges happen from the adjacent cliffs, with youngsters jumping from 20 to 40 feet, and some as much as 50 feet.<\/p>\n What makes the latter leap more treacherous is a rock ledge that juts out about 10 to 15 feet from the cliffs. Jumpers have little room to run and gain momentum (unlike at the arch) and must clear that formation before hitting the water.<\/p>\n This summer\u2019s safety debate reached a fever pitch in late July. A 17-year-old jumper, according to social media footage<\/a>, struck the ledge with his backside and crashed into the water.<\/p>\n The incident was covered<\/a> extensively by San Diego media <\/a> and resulted in increased policing near the bluffs<\/a>.<\/p>\n For his part, the unnamed 17-year-old said in a since-deleted social media post<\/a> that he suffered six fractured vertebrae and a badly bruised tailbone and needed nine stitches in his foot. The Times could not independently reach him. <\/p>\n Spectators watch people jump into the water from the arch at Sunset Cliffs.<\/p>\n \u201cFor everyone who wants to tell me I\u2019m an idiot for doing that, trust me, I\u2019m aware,\u201d he said. \u201cHopefully I can walk again, but I\u2019m just trying to take it slow.\u201d<\/p>\n Sunset Cliffs have attracted visitors and tragedies<\/p>\n Injuries and deaths from jumping at the cliffs date to the 19th century, San Diego Reader noted<\/a> earlier this year.<\/p>\n A schoolboy named Waldham slipped off the cliffs after a scrum with friends and broke his arm in 1881. One of the earliest deaths came in 1926, when a 3-year-old wandered from his home on Narragansett Avenue and fell to his demise.<\/p>\n Police and lifeguards were unsure as to the most recent jumping fatality, with one official pointing to the 2019 death of 15-year-old Anthony Womack, a National City resident.<\/p>\n The Sweetwater High School sophomore<\/a> was reported to have jumped from nearby Pappy\u2019s Point after skipping school with friends. <\/p>\n Brook Hjelm, the mother of 23-year-old Brian Wilson, who died swimming at Sunset Cliffs in 2015, told the local CBS station she would like to see photos of those who had died posted along with danger signs in the area. \u201cPut signs up of our young men and women that we lost,\u201d Hjelm said. \u201cLet them see the face<\/a> of something that associates them with what truly is at stake.\u201d <\/p>\n Tracking the action<\/p>\n Attention surrounding Sunset Cliffs injuries ebbs and flows much like the current, according to Frank Gormlie, a longtime San Diego County resident who tracked incidents more than a decade ago.<\/p>\n Gormlie, the founder and editor of Ocean Beach\u2019s online newspaper, OB Rag,<\/a> scoured media archives and spoke with residents.<\/p>\n He published a list in his October 2015 article \u201cDeath and Distress at Sunset Cliffs – 2005 to 2015,<\/a>\u201d which he described as \u201cincomplete\u201d because of unreported incidents.<\/p>\n \u201cIt had gotten so bad that I wanted to chronicle what was going on,\u201d Gormlie said.<\/p>\n His research documented 11 deaths and dozens of injuries during that time span. Those statistics came from jumps, along with vehicular, climbing and health incidents.<\/p>\n Some incidents had little to do with jumping, such a surfer smashing into the rocks. But a 43-year-old woman slipped and fell to her death in 2015, while two jumpers needed crane-assisted rescues after suffering serious injuries, according to Gormlie.<\/p>\n The Sunset Cliffs siren\u2019s song<\/p>\n \u201cPeople have been visiting the Sunset Cliffs for years because it has a beauty that shocks,\u201d Gormlie said. \u201cBut I think social media has found its way to the next generation of adventure seekers who don\u2019t know about the dangers.\u201d<\/p>\n The Sunset Cliffs area is Instagram-ready, and social media has drawn some visitors looking to brave the leap.<\/p>\n Gormlie said swimming and diving are local rites of passage. He noted that Ocean Beach residents commonly \u201cshoot the OB pier<\/a>\u201d \u2014 surfing under that the town\u2019s pier \u2014 a risky stunt<\/a> that Gormlie did as an 18-year-old before shipping off for college. <\/p>\n Gormlie jumped from the cliffs in 2014, shortly after turning 65. <\/p>\n![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1788863530_625_.jpeg\")
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