First it was El Morro. Now another ominous crack has appeared above one of Orange County’s most iconic surf spots. And the “Super” El Niño season is just beginning.
In a new video, Craig Whetter, the filmer behind Breaking Even TV, documents a fracture in the bluff overlooking Salt Creek Beach in Dana Point. The split appears below the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel, which SURFER recently reported was sold to KSL Capital Partners. Below are Salt Creek’s famed Point, Middles and Gravels lineups.
But the video alone cannot establish how deep the crack runs, whether it’s widening, or whether any structures are threatened. No official assessment of this particular fracture has been confirmed. Regardless, check out the precarious situation below:
“There is a new crack in town ladies and gentlemen, and it lives right above that Salt Creek Point trail,” Whetter noted in the video. “It’s right above a very, very popular walkway that people use all day… it’s putting a lot of people in danger.”
Just up the coast at El Morro, in Crystal Cove State Park, a much larger crack opened beneath Pacific Coast Highway in October. Measuring roughly 360 feet long and two feet wide, it prompted lane closures and a $4 million Caltrans emergency stabilization project.
“Protecting the traveling public is our top priority,” Caltrans District 12 Director Lan Zhou said as crews worked to reinforce that slope.
The broader backdrop is an extraordinary combination of surf, tides, and elevated ocean levels during a powerful El Niño. NOAA reported that coastal Kelvin waves have temporarily raised California’s coastal waters by six to 12 inches or more. Several Southern California tide gauges registered their highest observed levels in more than a century.
And the ocean isn’t finished.
“More Kelvin waves are likely to occur throughout the fall and winter,” NOAA warned.
The National Weather Service forecasts several rounds of rain and gusty weather in Orange County beginning Friday, November 13, as a parade of Pacific storms approaches. NOAA also predicts another stretch of above-normal high tides November 22–27.
“With all this rain coming, you can only imagine that cliff will get wet, it’ll get muddy, and at some point, it’s all going to fall in,” Whetter warned. “If you go on a walk down this way, watch out, because I fear that thing is coming down at any moment.”
Rain can infiltrate fractures and weaken slopes; powerful surf can strip supporting sand from a bluff’s base. Neither proves what caused the Salt Creek crack, but together they offer reason for concern.
As winter approaches, Salt Creek’s famous backdrop is demanding attention for an entirely different reason.
Will the crack grow? For now, nobody can say.
Stay tuned.
Related: Historic 100-Year Ocean Levels Threaten Iconic Stretch of California’s PCH (Video)
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