Massive River Wave Forms After Lagoon Bursts in Orange County (Video)
River waves are somewhat of a novelty for surfers.
Meaning, they’re not quite the real thing; they’re sort of like a cheap knockoff of real surfing; they’re fickle and hard to score; yet they can also be quite fun.
Like this one down in Orange County.
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After city workers drained the lagoon at Aliso Creek in Laguna Beach, CA, a massive standing wave formed as the water from the reservoir rushed into the ocean.
Local skimboarder and surfer Blair Conklin was there to surf it.
“This thing is going to be gnarly,” says Blair in the video.
He continued:
“See how sick it’s bottlenecking right there and just getting super deep. That thing is nuts.”
No word on the water quality of the standing wave, but per Visit Laguna Beach:
“Please do not enter the creek area. The creek contains urban runoff and may contain bacteria. Contact with this may cause illness.”
The wave at Aliso Beach is akin to the one seen in Hawaii at Waimea Bay. And late last winter, that reservoir broke, and the wave formed perhaps bigger than ever. Jamie O’Brien was on it; although he wiped out and “nearly died.”
JOB continued:
“I couldn’t control my board, and I honestly just fell right back. It’s like a 10 or 12 foot wave, and it sucked me back. Then there was another wave, and it was just as big, and I’m like, ‘oh my god. I’m gonna die. My leash is gonna break. I’m in a very bad spot.
“That wave just tumbles me, and tumbles me, and tumbles me…then, boom. It lets me out where the river meets the ocean. And the [ocean] waves were 15 feet. Huge Waimea. Probably one of the dumbest things I’ve ever done in my life.”
Novelty waves – fun, but also potentially dangerous.
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