Big swells mean lots of water moving around.
So much so, that the Aliso Beach parking lot in Laguna Beach was fully inundated by seawater from the incoming behemoth swell. And that also meant, a whitewater rapid flowing through the famed Aliso Creek river wave. So, naturally, Blair Conklin gave it a go.
The Laguna Beach native, novelty wave specialist, soft-top impresario, and 3x world champion skimboarder gave the creek wave a crack during one of the heaviest flows he’s ever seen, and one of the largest swells to hammer the West Coast in recent memory. And after one wave, skimming across a torrent of water, he barely made it out alive.
“I thought I was about to die,” Conklin said afterward. “I literally thought I could’ve died. I thought I was going out to sea.”
Conklin arrived at Aliso Beach around 4:50 a.m. to find the parking lot fully flooded from the combination of massive surf and rising water levels. The creek was swollen, the ocean was surging, and with all that water, the berm gave way.
There was so much water, the creek broke naturally; nobody had to dig it out.
As the creek burst toward the Pacific, a powerful standing wave quickly formed in the narrow channel. Conklin wasted little time jumping aboard and attempting a ride. What followed was one of the wildest (and quickest) creek sessions ever documented at the famous novelty wave.
Conklin caught one, held on for dear life, then got out of there before getting sucked into the open ocean where god knows what could’ve happened amidst the huge swell.
But he made it out unscathed.
“That was crazy scary,” he continued. “I didn’t even know where I was, or which way was up or down.”
He made it safely back to shore, shaken but smiling.
From there, Conklin hit other hotspots during the historic season-opener swell on the West Coast, like the Wedge and other novelty spots. But it was no walk in the park. Per his YouTube video caption, things were pretty hectic – even for experienced wave-riders:
“40-50ft swells that formed from a massive storm in the South Pacific traveled thousands of miles before hitting southern California. By the time it reached our coast wave heights exceeded 25 feet at certain beach breaks.
“Conditions were very dangerous for even the most experienced surfers and lifeguards. Rip currents inundated most beaches and many were rescued by the best lifeguards. Some lifeguards didn’t feel comfortable in these types of conditions. The water level of the Aliso Creek was the highest I had ever seen.
“[This swell] will go down in the history books.”
Related: Missing 5-Year-Old Girl Found in Massive Laguna Beach Surf (Video)
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