Scenic Road along Carmel Point lived up to its name on Monday afternoon as a large crowd gathered to watch massive waves—some estimated to be taller than 50 feet—crash, while some big waves surfers attempted to ride the mammoth waves after a large swell hit the California coast early Monday.
According to Steve Anderson, a forecaster with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the swell rolled in around 4am on Monday, Dec. 17, causing large waves throughout the Monterey Peninsula.
NOAA issued a high surf warning, one step above a high surf advisory, encouraging people to exercise caution along the coast.
“Once you get into the surf warning area, it is a lot of power of the waves coming through,” Anderson says. “It’s certainly the biggest swell of the season if not the past few years.”
The waves are expected to start dying down on Tuesday.
“It will be rapidly decreasing through the day and after tomorrow, it will drop a bit,” Anderson says.