Three Arch Bay

Oh boy where do I even start with this post. An amazing three hour and 15 minute swim from my usual spot at Strands to the far end of Three Arch Bay - by far my longest swim ever. I wish I had a GPS on a day like today, but I’m just going to guess I swam at least four miles.

I left at about 9:15 and it is completely overcast and it is a heavy overcast. It almost looks like there is a light fog lingering in Capistrano Valley and shrouding the coastal hills of Laguna Niguel that look over the golf coarse. I’m not optimistic that this is going to clear any time soon.

For the last two days, I’ve been pondering finally swimming to Three Arch Bay. This weekend is my perfect window of opportunity. My wife and youngest child are away, the water is warm and the surf is small. I have no commitments all morning and afternoon. However as I am driving to the Strand, these clouds are not providing fuel to my ambition. Quite the opposite in fact.

I’ve been thinking about a Three Arch Bay swim for at least a year now and I had always imagined visiting it on this bright and beautiful sun shiny day. Today is not that day. As I walk down the stairs I’m mulling this over in my mind. I do have all weekend and it is a three day weekend so tomorrow or Monday are options. But I’m here now. The water is smooth. I don’t want to risk my opportunity. What if it’s overcast the rest of the weekend? I’d rather do this under a cloudy sky than not do it at all. So I’m just going to play it by ear and see how I feel as the swim progresses.

It’s a mid tide and as I approach the shore, the water looks super smooth. It’s peaceful but despite the clouds, you can definitely feel the rising energy level here that is familiar to Labor Day weekend. When I touch the water it feels a tad coolish but I’m sure it will be nice. It’s likely still in the 70s though the San Pedro buoy finally dropped to 69 this morning. Still, 69 is nothing to complain about.

I head into the water with almost nonexistent surf. The shallow water is clear. I start to swim. I head north but don’t yet know where my final destination is going to be. The water feels a touch colder than my last several swims which just means I don’t feel undeniably warm right now.

On almost every swim, I have a pretty clear idea what my “itinerary” is going to be and it rarely changes once I start. So it feels a little odd not having “nailed down” my plans for today. It’s actually kind of nice. I’m just swimming north. That’s all. No more to say. When I feel like it, I’ll turn around. Maybe I should do this more often. Keep the swim open ended and let destiny fill in the rest. I’ll call it intuitive swimming.

I’m just here and I’m glad to be here. I don’t think of my goal because I don’t have one. In retrospect and knowing the way I think, I’m surprised I’m not totally obsessing over whether or not to do Three Arch or not. I’ve pretty much totally let it go - how uncharacteristic of me. Even though my body thinks it’s a little cool, I’m really enjoying this. I feel super relaxed.

I pass the point at the Ritz Carlton and head past the Salt Creek snack shop. Soon I notice this bright orb behind the clouds as I lift my head above the water for breath. Hmm…this might be promising.

A little further on I notice blue sky emerging around that orb and also to my east over the golf coarse on the other side of Coast Highway. Oh I like what I’m seeing here. I’m still not decided on final destination but I notice myself almost involuntarily eyeing the end of the point that separates Monarch from Three Arch and I am heading in that direction when I’d usually be heading for the beach club.

I notice how that point gets closer and closer until it maybe looks closer than I have ever seen. I deliberately do not look toward the beach club because I’m pretty sure it will look super far away since I’m certain I’m way further west than I normally would be.

The light seems to come and go. Sometimes those blue spaces look like they have been filled in with grey and then they break apart again. However the sky looks much more clear looking north toward that point and Laguna Beach. Ok. Who am I kidding? We are going to Three Arch Bay.

That point gets closer and closer very slowly. I begin to see details I have never seen before and I see another point come into view which is the end of Three Arch Bay - or at least I’m pretty sure it is. I feel like Jim Carey’s character in The Truman Show when he ponders leaving the town he has lived in all of his life and he is not aware that this entire town is an indoor sound stage and beyond it is “the real world.” I’ve been swimming in the confines of Strands and Salt Creek for the last four years and now I’m breaching that boundary and it feels like I am piercing a veil into a different world. Are there monsters here? Like on those old fashioned maps in the middle of the ocean where no one had sailed before.

I finally let myself look toward the beach club. Yep. It’s far. There is a good sized boat hanging out just south of the end of the bay (Monarch) here and in shore of where I am.

That point is starting to look close and the partial spherical outline of the bay beyond is taking shape. It really is beautiful and different. At the end of the point there is what looks like about a 50 foot drop to the water. The rock is exposed and striated with different shades of grey. This goes on for a hundred feet or so before the bay opens up.

I want to make sure that this is actually “it.” I don’t want to be deceived by a false cove and turn back prematurely and miss it. There is a part of me that wants to say, “ok. I’ve seen it. Now let’s go back.” However I have to be sure and as long as I have come all this way and don’t anticipate coming back again soon, I’d like to explore a little more.

Soon it becomes obvious. I think that this is it. The bay is of significant size and there are lots of houses surrounding it. These can’t be cheap. There is something about this place that is exquisite. There is a privacy and sense of seclusion that I’m sure comes with a hefty price tag. But man, I think I just found my new dream home at the very end of Monarch Bay that looks west past that drop off to the open ocean. My dad tells me he had a client who owned that home and he has been there.

The water feels warmer - it has ever since the sun started to become visible. I’m wondering where I should go. Should I swim into the bay and along, if not on to, the beach? I’d really like to but it looks like that would be quite a swim. I’m feeling super good but I know I have already been out here for some time and judging by how far the beach club looked, the return swim is not going to be a picnic. As a matter of fact, looking back now toward Dana Point south of Strands, the headlands look tiny and so very very far away.

I think I’ll swim to the next point. Everything here looks super cool. Is it because it’s just new or because it is kind of mysterious (unless you live here or know someone who does, swimming is the only way to get here.) or is it really this spectacular? I think all of the above is true. That next point is super interesting. The rock looks almost red and smooth and has these curved lines that reminds me of the rocks in Utah. I can also start to see the hotels along the Laguna coast and the hospital there - the one where I was born in fact.

Eventually I begin to see that the cool rock formation on the next point is not actually the point at all but a huge self standing rock. It kind of looks like a big stump of a rock or a mushroom. Waves crash into it and surround it with white water and I wonder what it would look like here with a big west swell. I remember the huge December swell we had in 2022 and you could see the whitewater spray all the way from Strands from 15 foot waves that were crashing in this bay. Wonder as I do, I’m very happy it is as tame as it is today.

I keep swimming until I’m just shy of the next point. I’m tempted to swim just past the edge which I am sure would give me an awesome view of South Laguna but it’s feeling like I have been out for a good long while and I can tell I am likely swimming against the current because forward progress seems slow. So I decide to turn around. Maybe one day in the not too distant future I’ll start from Salt Creek and come again on a shorter swim. I would definitely be down for coming here more often and I would really like to get further into the bay.

No doubt the current is moving south because things definitely move faster now that I’m heading back. I’m swimming closer to that drop off at the end of Monarch point and can really see the detail of the rock. I take another picture and see some text on the camera display I have never seen before. I look more closely and it is saying my battery has run out. Doh! Well what did I expect with the amount of time I have been in the water? Fortunately I’ve been taking plenty of pics along the way but I’m bummed I’ll miss out on the rest of the swim.

I round the point and my plan is rather than plotting a straight line to Strands like I swam on the way here, I’ll hug the edge of the bay until I’m fairly close to shore so I have a nice beach view the rest of the way. I even consider getting out somewhere at Salt Creek and walking if I get too tired but I feel good so far.

As I swim along the edge of the north end of the point, the water gets super shallow. There are a couple small protruding rocks to the south and a bird is perched on the largest one. Lots of sea grass below me and a bright orange Garibaldi. I’m really missing my ability to take pictures right now.

I can’t believe how quickly the beach club comes into close proximity. I feel like I must be rocketing south. As I pass the beach club I am definitely starting to feel my arms. Deeper into Salt Creek I start to feel a fatigue that I have never noticed on my swims. My arms start to feel like spaghetti. Still, I settle on the decision to swim all the way back. I’ve made it this far, let’s go all the way.

One unfortunate consequence of losing camera power is I can’t take that final shot that will tell me the time I got out of the water. So I’m thinking I will emerge as close to the lifeguard hut as I can and then ask the lifeguard on duty for the time.

After I cross the last point into Strands, I’m kind of limping along. I have to stop a few times just to rest my arms. At last here I am. Just in front of the ramp to the asphalt road. I did it! I can feel my fingers brush the sandy bottom and I’m surprised I’m in such shallow water and have difficulty coming to an upright position. I let the water pull me out just a few feet to a ledge where it is easier to stand. Then I slowly begin to walk. I’m totally wiped but also super stoked.

I get to the lifeguard and he kindly tells me it is 12:58. Wow! that is longer than I had thought. Over three hours. I thank the lifeguard and continue up the stairs. I realize that I forgot to look at the posted water temperature. I must really be out of it not to have taken note of that.