A boat capsized near the Del Mar Jetty on Friday evening, killing one person and leaving another with minor injuries after rescuers pulled them from the water near the rocks. The person who died was pronounced dead at Tri-City Medical Center despite extensive efforts to revive them, while the survivor was also taken to the hospital for evaluation.
The emergency began shortly before 7 p.m., when lifeguards and the Oceanside Fire Department were alerted after someone who had been aboard the vessel managed to reach the jetty and call 911, according to Times of San Diego. First responders quickly confirmed that one person remained missing in the water, setting off a search-and-rescue operation along the jetty as darkness fell.
Accounts of exactly when crews located the missing person vary slightly. The Times of San Diego reported rescuers found the person in the water at 7:13 p.m. near where the vessel struck the rocks on the jetty, while FOX 5 San Diego put the discovery closer to 7:30 p.m. A separate report from 10News placed it at roughly 7:31 p.m., though all three accounts agree the person was found where the overturned boat had struck the jetty's rocks.
Rescue Crews Battled to Revive the Victim
Once crews reached the victim, they began CPR and brought the person onto a rescue boat before rushing them to Tri-City Medical Center, the fire department said, per the Times of San Diego's reporting. The outlet noted that despite those extensive rescue and resuscitation efforts, the victim was pronounced dead at the hospital. The surviving passenger was also transported to Tri-City for further evaluation after suffering minor injuries in the capsizing.
What caused the vessel to overturn near the jetty remains under investigation, authorities said. The response drew help from several agencies beyond Oceanside Fire, including the San Diego County Sheriff's Office, the Oceanside Police Department, state and Carlsbad lifeguards, and personnel from Camp Pendleton, all of whom assisted in the rescue effort according to the fire department's account relayed by the same outlet.
Jetty Waters Have Proven Dangerous Before
The stretch of water near Oceanside's jetties has seen other close calls this year. In a separate incident reported by 10News, two people were rescued after their sailboat capsized near the entrance to Oceanside Harbor, an area the outlet described as affected by strong currents and hazardous surf conditions near the jetty. In that case, one person was taken to a hospital in stable condition while the other was evaluated on scene and did not require transport.
Weeks earlier, three men were rescued after their 39-foot boat began rapidly sinking about six miles off the North County coast, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. That vessel sent a mayday call just before 5:50 a.m. before communications cut out, prompting the Coast Guard to triangulate its last radio signal and launch a helicopter to join the search.
Capsizing Remains a Leading Cause of Boating Deaths
Nationally, capsizing is one of the most lethal categories of recreational boating accidents. The U.S. Coast Guard recorded 202 primary capsizing incidents in 2024, which resulted in 111 deaths and 106 injuries, part of a broader total of 3,887 recreational boating incidents that year involving 556 deaths and 2,170 injuries, according to the agency's statistics. The Coast Guard also found that 76% of fatal boating incident victims drowned, and that capsizing is an occurrence considered always or nearly always reportable under its guidance.
The overall fatality rate for recreational boating dipped slightly in 2024, to 4.8 deaths per 100,000 registered vessels from 4.9 the year before, per the Coast Guard's figures. As investigators work to determine what caused Friday's capsizing near the Del Mar Jetty, the incident adds to a string of boating emergencies along the Oceanside coastline this year that have tested the response of local lifeguards, fire crews and federal rescuers alike.
