The June 29 incident highlights the dangers of jumping off the “Clam” cave, an unspoken, but unsafe and illegal, tradition for local teens.
On a busy Sunday afternoon at Goldfish Point in La Jolla, a teenage boy jumped off the cliff, hitting a kayak in the water below. No injuries were reported, though the incident highlights the risks and law-breaking nature of repeated jumps.
The boy’s jump, which occurred about 3 pm June 29, happened as a group of about 20 kayakers were exiting the “Clam,” the westernmost of La Jolla’s seven sea caves, on a guided tour by La Jolla Sea Cave Kayaks.
The boy hit the kayak, which carried two people, ripping through the kayak. The kayakers were not hurt, according to La Jolla Sea Cave Kayaks owner Jen Kleck. The boy swam to shore, scampered up the rocks and ran away.
Several people called 911 and San Diego lifeguards arrived quickly, Kleck said, both on paddleboard from La Jolla Cove and on jet ski from La Jolla Shores.
The affected kayakers were taken back to The Shores on the jet ski; the lifeguard and kayak tour guides retrieved the sinking kayak parts from the water.
“I have never seen damage like this,” Kleck said. “I am struggling to wrap my head around the forces involved in this impact and am stunned that the teenager was able to swim to shore.”
The “terrifying” jump is one of many that happened that day, Kleck said, and is part of a “daily norm” in the summer, with kids jumping and narrowly missing people in the ocean below.
Clam jumping: then
La Jolla Sea Caves from Goldfish Point, c 1895
San Diego History Center
Cliff jumping from the Clam has been prohibited for many decades due to its danger, though photos and records have people jumping off the cave top for more than 100 years. Dozens of comments on various sites about jumping the Clam relay personal experiences from jumps in the 1960s, 1970s and more, describing the act as a rite of passage for La Jolla teens.
From rite to wrong
The Clam has no lifeguard in attendance, however; the closest watch is at La Jolla Cove Beach, where lifeguards cannot keep a close eye on the caves.
The Clam itself has “unstable surfaces on the cliffs,” said San Diego police Lt Bryan Brecht.
Jumping off the Clam might mean “landing on rocks near the surface of the water and encountering unpredictable currents trying to swim out of the area,” Brecht said.
In 1996, three local teenagers drowned in a three-month period after jumping from the Clam; 18 other jumpers were injured enough to require hospitalization, according to the LA Times.
The San Diego City Council clarified and amended a no-jump law shortly thereafter, with language in the city’s Municipal Code stating “it is unlawful for any person to jump or dive, or attempt to jump or dive, into the Pacific Ocean or Mission Bay” from any point, natural or manmade, higher than five feet above the water line.
The code also holds parents of any juvenile jumpers responsible for the behavior and resulting fines and citations.
Clam jumping: now
“I pray that when the adrenaline wore off, [the June 29 teen] didn’t find himself truly injured,” Kleck said. “A difference of only two or three feet could have resulted in life-changing injuries to that teenager [or] my guests.”
A lifelong outdoor adventurer, Kleck understands “the allure of risk,” she said. “But … when the risks we take threaten the welfare of others, we need to stop.”
In the middle of a hot summer day, “that’s when all the jumpers come out,” she said, as well as snorkelers, swimmers and kayakers.
“It’s just so likely that they’re going to hit something,” Kleck said.
Rite of passage or not, illegal or not, “we just know better now,” she said. “We can’t keep doing the same things that we’ve always done when we know how tragic it could end.”
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