Gallery: Photos from a really big swell in Southern California

Photos by Tom Carey and Landon Knight | Captions by Tom Carey

A huge south swell just hit Southern California and the whole place came alive with the intensity of it all. Newport Point and The Wedge in particular wore the full effect and were firing. As with any rare swell, there were wild stories bouncing around like the fact that Malibu Pier was falling down, but really it was just Laird Hamilton shutting it down by shooting beneath it on an SUP.

Sadly, a man was pulled unconscious from the water on Tuesday evening at Malibu in the rising swell. Rescuers performed CPR but he was later pronounced dead. Needless to say, this swell is no joke. Be careful out there.

Traffic delays were pushing over two hours around The Wedge, with everyone wanting a slice of the visual feast, or to pull on some rubber and get in the mix themselves (see also: collect sand).

Jordy Smith, Kolohe Andino, Dusty Payne, Koa Smith, Koa Rothman, Oliver Kurtz, Miguel Tudela, Jamie O’Brien were among those who made the most of the best conditions the area has seen for a fair stretch.

Tom Carey was there to capture it all, which you can dine on above…