Stranded surfer rescued after writing ‘HELP’ with rocks on beach

The man was trapped on the narrow stretch of sand — towering cliffs to one side, and waves lapping on the other. Luckily, he thought of a time-tested way of signaling that he needed to be rescued: Spelling out “HELP” on the beach using rocks he found there.

The man, a kite surfer who became stranded when he encountered challenging weather while practicing the sport, was rescued from a remote beach in central California after a private helicopter spotted his distress signal, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.

The pilot alerted emergency services, which airlifted the castaway from the beach, south of Davenport Landing, in Santa Cruz County, Cal Fire said Sunday in social media posts.

The man became trapped due to a “decent size surf” and pockets with no wind, as the weather was unpredictable and “changing very, very fast,” Fire Capt. Skylar Merritt, of Cal Fire’s San Mateo-Santa Cruz unit, said according to the Los Angeles Times.

A stranded kite surfer was rescued from a beach in central California on June 9, after he used rocks to spell out “HELP.” (Video: CAL FIRE CZU San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit via Facebook)

“The surfer did not need medical attention,” just help leaving the beach, the San Mateo-Santa Cruz unit wrote on X.

Merritt told the Los Angeles Times that the man was only stuck on the beach for a few hours and that he was not suffering from hypothermia or dehydration — common risks for anyone ending up stranded in remote areas without access to shelter, food or water.

A rescue team made up of California and Santa Cruz County firefighters and California State Parks crews worked together to extract the man. Videos of the operation posted by Cal Fire on social media show rescuers being lowered onto the beach from a helicopter overhead and hooking the man in, before being hoisted up by the helicopter and onto the cliff, where firefighters appeared to be waiting for him.

The rescue mission was “quick” and “turned out well,” Merritt said. But he said that the man should have told his family or friends where he was, according to NBC Bay Area. The man was “definitely lucky” that the helicopter pilot noticed him, Merritt said, according to NBC.

Spelling out “HELP” or “SOS” to attract the attention of passing aircraft and ships is a trick commonly used by castaways to call for assistance. The National Park Service recommends that anyone who becomes stranded in wilderness try to send some sort of signal to the outside world three times in a series — the “universal distress call” — such as sending up a light beam using a mirror or other reflective object.