Playing in waves is delightful! Being on the beach and running into the water as a kid or an adult, and throwing your body into the wave to feel yourself catch as you fall in, are things I could do for hours! There’s something undeniably thrilling about seeing a wave and jumping over it, under it, through it or riding it on a surfboard. It lifts you up and moves you.
This beach is enclosed by high, surrounding rock, so at first glance, you don’t see the open water. There are no waves! It’s more of a lagoon. But, give it a few seconds because there’s something brewing!
At the Playa Puerto Nuevo Beach in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, these locals swarm this particular spot because there’s something a little different about it – it’s exciting and dangerous. And, you can tell they are locals because they’re used to seeing what goes on down there. Any tourist or person seeing it for the first time would feel a little uneasy.
The “lagoon” is guarded by a reef barrier that blocks out the impending waves heading straight for the wall. The water is strong and forceful, and smashes against the rock on the other side, creating a massive wave that soars up and falls down, cascading down the rock into the lagoon. The beginning of the video is pretty tame, until the 0:08 mark. You can see some of the water slamming against the rock and spraying into the air. Nobody seems bothered.
Then by the 0:33 mark, a massive wave hits the barrier, and shoots extra high into the air, pouring over into the lagoon with force. The voices behind the camera are in awe, “Wow, see that..ohhhh my gooooosh…look at that!” There are one or two children running in but that’s only to get a better look at the glorious sight! They aren’t scared, and neither are the lifeguards. It seems to me like it’s just another day on the beach. Business as usual! Once you get used to it and get over the initial fear factor, it’s actually a beautiful sight. Totally natural, and absolutely captivating.
Have you experienced anything like this phenomenon before? If so, tell us when and where in the comments below! I know I have yet to get this up close and personal with a beach wave.
Click below to see how this natural phenomenon goes down.
