Officials urge Davenport beach-goers to use caution near bluffs

While the North Coast of Santa Cruz County brings unbeatable views, it also brings danger.

The bluffs lining the beach on Highway 1 are picture perfect, but Davenport locals say many visitors aren’t taking the precautions they should when they go to take that selfie.

Life-long residents tell KION they have dozens of stories of people going too close to the edge to take picture and falling off the cliff, or turning their back to the tide and getting pulled into the ocean.

Scott Randolph says one memory that stands out to him, ” I’ve seen a fellow climb all the way to the top, get to the top (of a bluff) and go yes, like he was all stoked and then he went to take a step down and he fell the whole way down. I don’t think there was a bone in his body that wasn’t broken, and the waves were coming up and we were able to get him out of the surf and get the helicopter here right away.”

And some residents blame social media for bringing so many tourists without heading warning, “well in the Winter time it’s the sea glass thing, they put it on the Internet now all these people that don’t know anything about the beach come down here and they just have no clue what’s going on. So us locals have to play lifeguard every Winter. When they’re talking about the sea glass on Facebook and all that stuff, they never tell any of these people about the dangers here.”

It’s something lifeguards want to make everyone aware of, “really know the tides, know if the tide is coming up that pocket Cove is going to get smaller and smaller and you never want to take your eyes off the ocean so always be facing the water and if you are beachcombing along the bluff areas try to stay away from the hillside where we have crumbling rocks or debris that comes down,” says State Parks Lifeguard Supervisor Eddie Rhee-Pizano.

He adds when you’re out there not following the warning signs, your putting other people’s lives at risk too, “it’s also dangerous for us to rescuers, we tend to put ourselves in a situation where we have to get down to try and rescue somebody.”