A massive crack has opened in the bluff below Pacific Coast Highway near Laguna Beach, prompting an emergency lane closure and warnings that part of the iconic coastal road could collapse into the ocean.
Caltrans shut one southbound lane of PCH from Irvine Cove to Reef Point Drive, a stretch running alongside Crystal Cove State Park, after the fracture was spotted in the cliffside below El Morro just north of Laguna Beach. The damage follows weeks of heavy surf, high tides and hurricane-driven swells that have pounded an already battered Southern California coastline.
Blair Conklin, a Laguna Beach local who documented the damage in a YouTube video, estimated the crack sits roughly 10 feet from the road and warned that a major collapse could happen within days. In the video’s description, Conklin wrote that the situation appeared to be deteriorating rapidly.
“This problem seems to be escalating quicker than people thought,” Conklin wrote.
Speaking to Surfer, Conklin described what the footage reveals: “The cliff side right here this close to PCH is falling… that’s why all this water is so brown,” He added his theory about the lane closure: “They just closed part of one lane on PCH, and my guess is becuase the cliff is eroding so bad… it might be at risk of having part of PCH crumble into the ocean.”
Sky5 aerial footage from Tuesday afternoon confirmed the fractured bluff, with the crack clearly visible below the roadway after months of relentless surf.
The damage extends beyond the highway itself. California State Parks temporarily closed portions of Crystal Cove State Park and San Onofre State Beach due to destruction from high surf and coastal erosion following Tropical Storm Rachel. At Crystal Cove, 26 historic beachfront cottages were evacuated as a precaution after officials reported “significant coastal erosion and infrastructure damage.”
Conklin pointed to a dangerous convergence of forces driving the destruction. In his video description, he said the combination of conditions “has all led to the destruction” seen along Laguna Beach. Those conditions include El Niño patterns, high tides, a Kelvin wave and hurricane swell.
NOAA has reported that El Niño continues to strengthen, with a strong-to-very strong event likely persisting through January to March 2027. California has already declared a state of emergency ahead of what could be a historic winter storm season.
The emergency lane closure on PCH represents the most immediate response to a threat that has been building for months as Southern California’s coastline takes repeated hits from extreme weather and ocean conditions.