A surfer caught in a powerful current near the Ocean Beach Pier lost his board and feared being swept into the pilings before he made it back to shore, according to NBC 7 San Diego. The Saturday morning encounter is a reminder of a particular hazard around piers: currents can form alongside structures even when a beach looks manageable.
Luke Jackson told NBC 7 that the current pulled him away from the pier and that his leash came free, leaving him without his surfboard. He swam back to shore, using incoming waves to help him reach safety. Surf at the pier was approaching 7 feet during high tide, the station reported. A friend called 911, and lifeguards responded; the board was later recovered destroyed.
Piers and currents
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says permanent rip currents often occur alongside piers and jetties and advises beachgoers to stay at least 100 feet away from them. The City of San Diego’s beach-safety guidance advises people caught in a rip current to swim sideways until free rather than fight the current’s pull. That general guidance does not establish what Jackson did or what route was safest in his specific situation.
The City said in a 2023 safety notice that San Diego lifeguards conduct an estimated 7,000 rescues at local beaches annually. That is a citywide estimate, not a count for Ocean Beach or for rip-current rescues specifically.
Other rescues, different circumstances
Other reported incidents show that rip-current rescues occur at different points along the county coast. On Sept. 5, 2025, lifeguards and first responders rescued five people near the Oceanside Pier; one was airlifted to a trauma center, FOX 5 San Diego reported. In a separate incident on Nov. 23, 2025, a dog swept into a current near an Ocean Beach jetty was rescued near Mission Beach, according to an Associated Press report carried by the East Bay Times.
These separate incidents differ in location and circumstances; they are examples, not evidence of an increase in rescues or proof of a shared cause. The NBC 7 account does not establish the current’s precise path or Jackson’s distance from the pier pilings. It reports that he returned to shore without injury.
