Ultra-rare Calif. beach cottages spared from coastal flooding for now
As powerful king tides pummeled the California coast this week, it seemed for a moment as though Crystal Cove State Park, one of Orange County’s crown jewels of public land, was getting hit particularly hard.
Read more San Francisco socialites found dead on side of Interstate 5
“Carnage at Crystal Cove,” proclaimed one video on Instagram, showing a lifeguard tower toppling into the sea and a Bobcat construction vehicle bobbing in the waves. In separate shots, water flowed through a pedestrian tunnel under the Pacific Coast Highway that connects the parking lot to the beach. The large waves were also seen running up to the sides of the historic, hard-to-book public cottages as the park’s wide, sandy beach shrank away under the expanding tides.
Thankfully, despite all the online worry, Crystal Cove is doing OK.
Travel | Disneyland’s likely 3rd theme park has been nearly 30 years in the making
Culture| The 18-foot-high fence that turned Sonoma and Marin communities upside down
Food| The SF tech worker whose unhinged order broke In-N-Out forever
Politics | Gen Z students are embracing the ‘Kirk doctrine’ on California campuses
Get SFGATE’s top stories sent to your inbox by signing up for The Daily newsletter here.
Over the past week, the National Weather Service has warned that “life threatening rip currents are likely” along a large swath of the coast, and at least three people have died in the past week after getting pulled into the waves, including a 5-year-old girl in Laguna Beach. The tides have also wreaked havoc on coastal infrastructure and have stripped sand from popular beaches.
King tides are an informal name for the highest tides of the year, but they also serve as an example of what California’s beaches could look like in the future as climate change causes sea-level rise. The extreme pictures of waves hitting expensive coastal homes and toppling coastal infrastructure during king tides “will become the new norm,” Crystal Cove State Park warned in a Facebook post several years ago.
For now, at least, it appears that the historic cottages at Crystal Cove State Park have survived the latest test of how they’ll withstand the coming years of climate change-driven sea-level rise, after a careful restoration process planned for a 50-inch rise in sea level.
“Fortunately, none of our cottages sustained any damage,” said Scott Kibbey, the district superintendent for the Orange Coast District of California State Parks. Waves did run up to one cottage and to the nearby Beachcomber Cafe, and “the high water mark was a bit higher than we’re used to seeing it,” but overall, damages were limited, Kibbey said.
Crystal Cove State Park covers 3.2 miles of coastline between Newport Beach and Laguna Beach, and it’s unique among Orange County’s beaches for its attached 2,400 acres of backcountry wilderness, a favorite for area hikers and first-time backpackers. It’s also unique for its historic seaside cottages, built in the 1930s and 1940s and now part of the Crystal Cove Historic District. The cottages are extremely popular, with six-month-out dates immediately fully booked each morning when they’re released. Occupancy is above 98% year-round, according to the Crystal Cove Conservancy, and the cottages see over 24,000 annual visitors.
Read more Calif. county dubs June ‘Traditional’ family month, excluding LGBTQ+ families
“Over several days, an unusually large south swell brought powerful surf, beach erosion, and challenging conditions throughout the Orange Coast District. Crystal Cove certainly felt its effects,” Kate Wheeler, president and CEO of the conservancy, wrote in a statement on Monday. “Beaches lost sand, infrastructure took some hits, and conditions changed quickly as the ocean reminded us of who is really in charge.”
—The weirdest, wildest man in California pizza
—Endangered frogs have cut a famous trail in two for 20 years
—The tech worker whose unhinged order broke In-N-Out forever
—Spencer Pratt’s LA hats are likely ‘straight-up’ trademark infringement
For more SFGATE LA stories, subscribe to our new weekly newsletter The Southland here.
The conservancy was formed in 1999 to save the historic cottages from a planned resort development, and the group now serves as the nonprofit partner of Crystal Cove State Park. In the years since, the conservancy has restored 41 of the 45 historic cottages, with an eye toward surviving the uncertain future of Orange County’s coastline. The other cottages are currently under construction, part of a $55 million project focused on 17 cottages in the North Beach area.
The Bay Area’s best free newsletter.
By signing up, you agree to our Terms Of Use and acknowledge that your information will be used as described in our Privacy Policy.
“Concerns about sea level rise were extensively considered during the planning stages of this project,” according to . Design plans for the restoration project anticipated up to a 50-inch rise in sea level by 2050. Planning for this involved raising several cottages by up to 2.8 feet and reinforcing the cottages into concrete cylinders embedded in bedrock.
Wheeler’s statement on this week’s king tides noted that “this is also what coastlines do,” adding that beaches are “dynamic systems” with shorelines frequently shifting due to storms and swells.
“There is work ahead, as there always is after a significant swell, but Crystal Cove remains as remarkable as ever,” Wheeler wrote. “The coast has changed shape a bit. The people who care for it have shown up in force. And the park endures.”
Read more Satellite photos show beleaguered Arizona reservoir turn green
