DSA In the News

Beaches and bluffs to be closed for Mavericks

Fans of big-wave surfing will find it a lot more difficult to get a firsthand look at the Mavericks competition in Half Moon Bay this year, as viewing spots on coastal bluffs and beaches will be closed to public access.

Representatives from the Half Moon Bay Surf Group, which is organizing this year’s Jay at Mavericks Big Wave Invitational, joined an array of public safety agencies at a meeting this week to announce the closures and discuss the logistics of protecting the public, the environment and competitors at the event.

More than 40,000 spectators have converged on the area around Princeton-by-the-Sea to watch the contest in previous years, often jamming on to fragile cliffs and overcrowding beaches to get a view, San Mateo County sheriff’s Capt. Mark Hanlon said.

“We’ve taken a lot more initiate action to keep people from going onto that cliff,” Hanlon said of this year’s event.

In 2010, 13 spectators were injured and three hospitalized when a rogue wave crashed into a crowded viewing spot set up on the beach.