Zuma Beach
Long, wide stretch of sand known for strong surf, powerful rip currents, and legendary lifeguards.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Zuma Beach in Los Angeles follows a county lifeguard named Bob Burnside, who patrolled this stretch of sand from the early 1950s through decades of punishing rip currents that turned rescues into a race against seconds. In 1967 he started tinkering at home after his shifts, chasing an idea to replace a rescue device whose design had barely changed since the First World War. Those same rip currents, strong enough that off-duty guards once compared them to river rapids, still run beneath the lifeguard towers here today.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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