During the winter, the Bay Area occasionally experiences what are known as “King Tides” — higher than normal tides caused by the gravitational pull of the moon and sun.
But the phenomena that brings flood waters to some areas can also cause the waters to recede to unusually low levels.
Early this week, visitors flocked to San Francisco’s Ocean Beach where an afternoon “minus tide” pulled back the curtain, revealing a rare opportunity to walk the beach between the Cliff House and Seal Rocks.
No sooner had the water retreated, when visitors began taking the ocean’s place on the sandy strip - venturing out almost to the rocks, normally inundated with water.
“Usually you could not be standing here,” said Rick Grant, who made the trek from Santa Rosa to standing down the cliff from the Cliff House. “You would be six, seven, 10 feet under water.”
A spokeswoman for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area said the extremely low tide happens several times a year, but often at night. The rare daytime opportunity drew hundreds of visitors to the beach who were already poking around the remains of the old Sutro Baths.
“This is super rare and super beautiful,” said Ellen Miller of San Francisco, as she strolled in view of temporarily land-locked rocks. “I think that’s why a lot of people are here.”
In a nook of the cliffs, an artist hunched over an easel painting the strange scene. A woman threw a tennis ball to her dog and a fisherman with a net waded out all the way to Seal Rock.
“Never was able to come down here,” said Brandon Farmer as he walked with a group of friends. “It’s fun being down here.”
The National Park Service warned visitors to watch for possible “sneaker waves” which are more common during the winter. But danger didn’t seem to be on the minds of visitors who climbed the normally inaccessible rocks - taking in the rare angle of San Francisco's western tip.
“It does have a strange feeling,” Grant said, “that you’re somewhere you probably shouldn’t be.”
