Sneaker Wave Sweeps Away Tourists in Laguna Beach (Video)

Greg Viviani (aka SoLagLocal) captured the chaos, and we caught up with him afterwards to hear about it.

“To the tourists and the visitors, who come to the beach when there are high tides and significant swell, they need to make sure they don’t set up their living room on the beach,” Viviani said. “They need to listen to the lifeguards and locals. They know about the waves. Eventually, the beach is going to get covered with water, all the way up to the parking lot.”

It’s an issue, because all that flotsam then ends up in the ocean.

“All that trash or personal items, they end up in the ocean and harm marine life,” Viviani continued. “A wave comes up and wipes everything out. They don’t realize it. We, as locals, try and warn them. But they only move back, like, two feet. And I’m telling them, the water is going to go all the way into the parking lot. It’s funny, but it’s also shitty. All that stuff is going to end up in the ocean. We’re watermen and we love the ocean.”

Viviani is a strong advocate for keeping the local beaches clean, especially during peak summer season, when the shores are flooded with people. After the Fourth of July weekend, he went down to Aliso Beach to clean up the destruction…and it was a lot.

Additionally, Viviani campaigns for a natural flow, and/or speeding up the inevitable flow sometimes digging by hand of the Aliso Creek – just like it has done for millennia. However, in his quest to keep the environment running in its natural form, he’s run into trouble with local officials. He even got a ticket for the terrible crime of digging sand.

“What’s this citation for?” Viviani asked.

“Digging a hole,” replies the officer.

Stay tuned for more action, and drama, from Aliso Beach.