Surfer Dies In Unseasonably Large Swell At Ocean Beach

“Well, this is definitely odd,” said Lewis Samuels, yesterday, as we floated in the water off San Francisco’s Sunset District. 

He was referring to the fact that, despite being the last days of May, a proper long period 20-second west swell was delivering nearly double overhead A-frames to the middle of Ocean Beach. Even more strange, the swell was coupled with howling all-day offshore wind — a phenomena that typically belongs to the months of November, December, and January.

According to Surfline’s historical data, in the last decade there has been only one other proper North Pacific groundswell in California in late May (9.6ft @ 14 sec in 2024). And, as is typical of spring and summer in SF, that swell was plagued with 20kts of onshore wind.

So, yesterday was unusually heavy and intense for a day of off-season surfing in San Francisco. 

At the end of the morning session, the beach was littered with more than a few boards — each sitting on the sand with broken leashes. 

Later in the day, some tragic reports began hitting the internet.

Though not yet identified, a middle aged surfer passed away around 1:20 PM while surfing around Lincoln Avenue. 

Per NBC Bay Area:

A surfer died after he was rescued by lifeguards from choppy waters off San Francisco’s Ocean Beach on Thursday afternoon, authorities said.

About 1:20 p.m., the San Francisco Fire Department was alerted to a report of a surfer in distress at Ocean Beach near Lincoln Way, according to San Francisco Fire Capt. Jonathan Baxter.

At the same time, an off-duty National Park Service lifeguard who was surfing in the area and three on-duty lifeguards noticed a surfer waving their hands above their head — a recognized sign of distress, Baxter said.

The lifeguards swam toward the location, just outside the surf line, and found the distressed surfer face down, unconscious and not breathing.

They began life-saving measures while bringing the man back to shore, where paramedics from the San Francisco Fire Department continued with advanced life support care. The surfer was transported to a local hospital in critical condition but died there despite lifesaving efforts, Baxter said. The surfer’s name and the cause of death have not been released.

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After speaking to a local firefighter who was on the scene, early signs suggest the surfer had a heart attack, but this is unconfirmed. We will update this post if we hear more.

Our hearts go out to all of those affected by this devastating situation.