Man Swept Into Ocean At Same State Park Where Dad And 7-Year-Old Daughter Died

MONTEREY COUNTY, CA — A man was swept away in the ocean over the weekend at Garrapata State Park and remained missing as of Sunday, police said, noting the incident occurred just a week after a father and his young daughter died in the same way at the park.

Authorities were notified around 3 p.m. Saturday that three people had been swept off the rocks into the ocean at Soberanes Point, according to the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office.

Two women rescued themselves and were taken to a local hospital with injuries, but the man remained missing, authorities said. Cmdr. Andres Rosas, a spokesman for the sheriff's office, said the man was among a group of four people who were visiting the park, about 11 miles south of Carmel along state Highway 1.

Around 4:30 p.m., a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter crew spotted the man's body floating about 300 feet offshore but lost track of it in the ocean and was unable to recover it, Rosas said. Search efforts were suspended around 7 p.m. due to darkness and resumed on Sunday. As of late Saturday, the search was considered a recovery effort rather than a rescue.

High winds and unsafe water conditions hindered the search, limiting the ability of divers to conduct underwater operations and affecting drone efforts, according to the sheriff's office. Operations were suspended as of 5:30 p.m. Sunday and were set to resume Monday morning.

The man was about 30 and was wearing a white turban, black shirt, black shorts and black vest-style jacket, authorities said.

The search effort included the sheriff's office, California State Parks, CalFire, California Highway Patrol and the Coast Guard.

The incident happened just a week after a 39-year-old father and his 7-year-old daughter, who were visiting from Canada, were swept into the ocean by 15- to 20-foot waves and died.

“We remind everyone that there is a current beach hazards warning in our area,” the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post Saturday night. “The public is asked to stay off rocks and back from the waters edge. Ocean waves are unpredictable and pose a safety hazard to the public.”

Deaths on area beaches from sneaker waves, which can unexpectedly surge high up on the shore and sweep people off their feet, are not uncommon, Rosas said.

"The water can look safe and then that one sneaker wave or rogue wave can come in and that's the one that catches people off guard," he said.

The National Weather Service said waves were 8-10 feet high at 12-13 seconds apart Saturday afternoon. A beach hazard statement predicted 13- to 18-foot waves through Monday.

A yellow warning sign at the beach cautions against unexpected life-threatening waves and currents, Rosas said. Climbing on rocks, swimming and wading is unsafe, it says.

Bay City News contributed to this story.