A fresh crack has split open in the coastal bluff beneath the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel, running right above a beachside trail that hundreds of surfers, walkers and beachgoers use every single day. The fracture sits over Salt Creek Point Trail in Dana Point, and with rain and unusually high tides bearing down on the Orange County coast later this month, locals are worried it could give way.
Video of the fracture was posted Wednesday by Craig Whetter, a local videographer with Breaking Even TV, who captured the crack overlooking Salt Creek Beach, according to Patch. The split appears below the resort, and Whetter did not mince words about what it could mean for the people who pass beneath it. “It's putting a lot of people in danger,” he said, per the outlet's report. The trail provides access to well-known surf breaks locals call the Point, Middles and Gravels, meaning foot traffic beneath the crack is constant, as detailed by the New York Post.
FOX 11 reported it reached out to the Laguna Niguel Department of Parks and Recreation to ask whether crews were monitoring the fracture, but as of its report had not gotten a response. “We have not heard back yet,” the station noted, according to FOX 11. No official geological assessment of the crack's depth, or confirmation of whether the resort faces an immediate structural threat, has been made public.
Storms and King Tides Add to the Worry
The timing is what has people spooked. The National Weather Service was predicting several rounds of rain and gusty weather moving into Orange County starting Friday, per the same Patch report. Rainwater seeping into the crack could saturate the soil and add weight to the bluff, while pounding waves threaten to chew away at the sand that supports its base, according to the Post's reporting.
Making matters worse, forecasters tracking data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association have flagged another stretch of above-normal high tides running from Nov. 22 through Nov. 27 — the kind of king tides that can accelerate erosion at the base of already-vulnerable bluffs. The Los Angeles Times has described this stretch of Southern California's coast as grappling with a punishing El Niño winter, one that has left behind collapsed sea bluffs, stripped beaches and damaged homes and infrastructure up and down the coastline.
Not the Only Crack Rattling Orange County
Salt Creek isn't the only stretch of coastal bluff causing headaches this fall. A separate, much larger fissure beneath Pacific Coast Highway near Crystal Cove State Park measures roughly 360 feet long and two feet wide, according to Caltrans figures cited by Patch. That crack forced the closure of the right southbound PCH lane nearest the slope, between Reef Point Drive and Irvine Cove Drive, the Times reported.
Caltrans has moved to stop the bleeding there, installing plastic sheeting over the crack to keep rainwater out ahead of storms and planning to buttress the slope's base while armoring it with rocks to slow further movement and erosion, per the Times. The agency has said its crews can only perform that stabilization work during low tide, according to the Orange County Register.
Reported price tags for the Crystal Cove fix vary widely depending on the outlet. The Times and CBS Los Angeles both cited $4 million in emergency funding approved by Caltrans, with CBS noting two southbound lanes remained closed as crews continued work. But Patch has separately reported figures as high as $10 million, and in a later story put the total emergency funding at $13.5 million, up from the initial $4 million projection, per its own account.
The erosion problem extends beyond roadways, too. Storms and high tides have also eaten into the San Clemente rail corridor, undermining sections of track and repeatedly disrupting train service between Los Angeles and San Diego, according to CBS Los Angeles. For now, the fracture below the Ritz-Carlton remains the latest reminder that this winter's wet weather and swollen tides are testing nearly every mile of Orange County's bluffs.
