With its carved coastal bluffs, arches and sea caves, Point Loma’s Sunset Cliffs is an iconic San Diego landmark.
It's also a well known cliff jumping spot — an illegal and dangerous tradition that's been going on for decades.
“Nothing really bad happens on the small cliff. It's only when people try to do dumb stuff by themselves,” said 15-year-old Enzo Bledsoe.
He drove into town from Corona, California with his 17-year-old brother Joe. It was their second time visiting the spot, located between Osprey and Froude Streets along Sunset Cliffs Boulevard, in the past couple of weeks.
The centerpiece of the area is known as "The Arch." Recently it's been trending all over the internet, resulting in large crowds showing up in the area.
“I just started seeing it like everywhere on TikTok and everything,” Joe Bledsoe said. “And I just thought ‘oh that looks fun.’ Because I've always been going to the lake and river doing cliff jumps out on the water. So I mean why not come down here?”
On Sunday July 26 and Tuesday July 28, two people jumping and climbing the cliffs were critically injured in the same location.
In the first incident, a 17-year-old boy suffered serious injuries after jumping street side and making contact with the rock ledge below before entering the water.
In the second incident, crews responded to reports of a man who had fallen onto the rocks below after losing his footing while climbing the side of the cliff.
“What we saw here the past couple weeks, these are devastating, life altering injuries. And so we're really trying to let folks know about the dangers of cliff jumping,” said Candace Hadley, a San Diego Fire-Rescue Department public information officer.
“We have folks from all ages that come out to attempt to jump the cliffs. We do see an increase in the higher tides or later in the day,” Hadley said.
She said there’s been an increase in the crowds at the cliffs this summer.
“Now with recent activity we have increased those (lifeguard) patrols, we've increased education here in this area,” Hadley added.
In a statement Tuesday, San Diego Police Department Lt. Cesar Jimenez said, “San Diego Police will be conducting more enforcement in Sunset Cliffs to impede people from jumping and (injuring) themselves.”
He said last weekend officers gave “over 300 warnings and issued 18 citations” that included misdemeanors and infractions.
Al Bruton, 85, is a San Diego resident and former lieutenant lifeguard with the city. He admits being a cliff jumper back in the 1950s through the 80s.
“As a kid we would jump off of here. It was a local thing only,” Bruton said. “People that would jump knew the water, knew the ocean, knew the currents and knew how to get out. Because if there's surf this is an extremely difficult place to get out.”
He said big crowds in recent years have created a dangerous situation, with peer pressure adding to the concerns. But he thinks the citations are an overreaction. Fines start at $100.
“People are going to be jumping there forever. There's no way you can stop it. You can post lifeguards there but it's only a temporary thing. I hate to say it but it's kind of a waste of manpower,” Bruton said.
As for the Bledsoe brothers, they said the recent injuries and risk of citations aren’t slowing them down.
“Once the cops come you just make sure to stop jumping,” the younger brother Enzo said.
San Diego Municipal Code prohibits jumping or diving into the Pacific Ocean or Mission Bay from any point connected to land that is more than five feet above the water.
