Newport Beach lifeguards remain vigilant in wake of Marie and as El Niño arrives
- Share via
Lifeguards and other responders were kept on their toes over the long Labor Day weekend, as waves generated by the offshore Hurricane Marie not only made swimming hazardous, but caused severe coastal erosion, property damage and local flooding.
The conditions persisted for several days, and so did the tourists.
“On the Saturday we worked, we had 179 rescues,” said Newport Beach Lifeguard Battalion Chief Mike Ure. “But, we had 5,000 preventatives, which means the lifeguard went and talked to this person and said ‘Hey, you need to come back.’”
As the extent of beach repairs are still being assessed in the wake of the hurricane and the Southland braces for the effects of a powerful El Niño season ahead, the Newport Beach Lifeguard Operations Division that Ure helms remains focused on keeping the public safe and educated.
Across a 6.5-mile strip that stretches from the Santa Ana River to Crystal Cove, the Ure’s division of the Newport Beach Fire Department is responsible for the safety and well being of not only the residents who might be visiting the beaches, but the estimated 20,000 to 100,000 tourists who flock to the beach city on any given day.
According to the city’s Instagram page, bigger waves brought in surfers and thrill seekers, leading to dangerous situations including surfers washing up over jetties and hundreds of rescues over the holiday weekend. But with approximately 8.5 million visitors and zero drownings in all of 2025, the Newport Beach lifeguards, alongside the Newport Beach Junior Lifeguards, train regularly to ensure beachgoers are kept safe both in and out of the water.
Training for the department consists of regular runs and swims, including an all-out 1,100 meter swim in the ocean and 1,000 yard soft-sand run to simulate rescues, as well as hours in classrooms with tests and safety briefings.
“I think that, in terms of service, we’re very motivated by community and family, having an impact and keeping people safe,” said Chett Clark, 23, a Newport Beach lifeguard. “We are very in depth with training, not just on the physical side, but also on the medical side. They’re very confident in what to expect, confident in how to prepare their lifeguards and they’re very concise with the game plans being made.”
While it is extremely rare for a hurricane to directly hit California, the threats of these natural disasters and the erosion and cleanup that comes with them happens every year, according to Ure.
Sand berms, or giant walls of sand that have been created by the high surfs, can be seen reaching up to 10-to 15-feet tall at popular surf spots such as the Balboa Pier or the Wedge,
“If [a surfer] went down there, there’s no way to get back up,” Ure said. “The erosion problem is kind of the end result. We get these storms all the time in the winter and we have them every summer, we’ve just been in a cycle where there’s a lot of erosion from the southern swells.”
The beaches experience swell cycles, a process in which waves carry sand to and from the beaches. During Newport Beach summers, the southern swells take the sand away from the beaches, before western swells in the winter bring the sand back from beaches like Huntington Beach. However, over the last few years, western swells have not been strong enough to bring sand back to the beaches, resulting in unreplenished beaches.
The local beaches are also a part of the Army Corps of Engineers’ Orange County Beach Erosion Control Project, otherwise known as Surfside Sunset. The mitigation project is set in place to help restore coastlines from the San Gabriel River down the coast to the Newport Bay Harbor entrance. Every five years, the project provides periodic beach nourishment of approximately 1.8-million cubic yards of sand.
However, in Newport there has yet to be a major concern from the city over the sand levels on the beaches, with no major construction or restoration currently in place, aside from regular yearly maintenance, according to a city spokesperson.
“Our municipal operations department is reinforcing the berm,” said Georgia Rios, Newport Beach’s public information officer. “This is maintenance that’s done normally throughout the year, but especially with the high swell and the storm that came this past week our teams are out there building and reinforcing the berm again.”
El Niño is here
El Niño officially reached California in August. The natural warming cycle occurs every two to seven years across the tropical Pacific Ocean, but is this is expected to be the strongest on record since the 1950s, according to the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources department.
This year, ocean temperatures are set to get warmer, there is to be an increase in humidity, higher sea levels and risks of stronger waves and continued erosion from now through March, peaking in the winter months.
But, in Newport, there is no imminent threat to beachgoers, leaving the beaches to remain open to the public, with lifeguards perched on their towers and ready in rescue boats, officials said. The Lifeguard Operations Division recommends that all visitors stay close to the nearest lifeguard towers, learn about and watch for tower flags and, most importantly, to be conscious of their surroundings while having fun.
“Always talk to lifeguards and ask questions. If you’re in doubt, either don’t go out or be sure to ask for an opinion from a lifeguard. Be kind to the people who genuinely care and want you to go home safe to your family,” Clark said. “Lifeguarding is an amazing job, you get to help people, save lives, protect others and truly make an impact every day you go to work.”
— Carroll is a Daily Pilot contributor.
