Lifeguards were extremely busy this past weekend, making hundreds of rescues along the 42-miles of coastline.
Big surf slammed the coast Saturday – the first day of summer - on a day when very hot weather drew people to the beach to cool off.
Combine that with a spike in water temperatures that hit 74 degrees and rip currents: “it was beyond crazy,” said Laguna Beach Marine Safety Capt. Kevin Snow.
The beaches have cooled off a bit, the surf is dying down, and the wind has kicked up on the northern parts of the coast, giving lifeguards a chance to catch their breath after a hectic weekend.
Laguna Beach Marine Safety Officer Scott Diederich said 120,000 people hit Laguna’s sand over the weekend, and they had 272 rescues on Saturday alone, with 350 total for the weekend. A stretch of beach between Thalia and St. Ann’s had 55 saves because of an extremely strong rip.
“Any time people hit the water, they were sucked right out,” Diederich said.

Click here to see how to escape a rip current.
Marine Safety Officer Matt Hansen had a dramatic rescue pulling a man with an injured leg from the water, then running back in immediately afterward for a triple rescue when a rip current blew open.
“It was one of those days,” he said. 
Two lifeguards were hurt during the weekend with leg injuries, although the level of injury is unknown.
“Hopefully, we’ll have them back sooner than later,” he said.

Huntington Beach Marine Safety Officer Matt Norton said about 200,000 people flocked to their beach over the weekend, with hundreds of rescues.
“We had the full mix. Rip currents, cervical injuries, and a ton of missing kids,” he said.
One three-year-old child was found by lifeguards, who ended up having him for more than two hours before the father came looking for him. The dad showed up as police came to take the child.
The beaches remained busy through the nights, with lifeguards having to watch over people barbequing.
“We’re finding a lot of people aren’t traveling. I think we’re going to have people down here because it’s a cheap and easy thing to do for the summer.”

He said the rip currents are still pulling people into the surf, and beachgoers need to check with lifeguards and know how to swim before getting into the water.
“Everybody is still on alert,” he said. Surf is at about 2-to-4 feet in Huntington Beach.

 In Newport, there were 295 rescues on Saturday, with one possible spinal injury after a swimmer dove into shallow water, hitting a sandbar. On Sunday, there were 196 rescues.
The conditions have cooled down a bit, and the surf is now about 2 to 3 foot, whereas it was hitting 6 feet high on Friday.
In San Clemente, there were 276 rescues on Saturday and 112 on Sunday, with about 40,000 people showing up through the weekend.

Huntington State Beach Marine Safety Officer Ryan Gates said Huntington parking lots filled up and had to be closed both days. 

Huntington State Beach had 230 rescues on Saturday, and 135 on Sunday. Bolsa Chica State Beach had 136 rescues Sunday, and 40 on Sunday.
“We’re in the aftermath now, doing the clean up,” he said. “It was so crazy.”

For more on what’s happening with OC’s weather, check out Sciencedude’s  blog. Do you have photos from your beach weekend? Publish your stuff here.