Off Point Loma, 2014

Last summer in August of 2017, my wife and I were sitting under an umbrella at Torrey Pines State Beach playing backgammon when I noticed a commotion in the water. Straight out from us were about 30 waders and boogie boarders. Suddenly a school of dolphin appeared and decided to play with them. The dolphins were squeaking, jumping, doing flips. Some would swim directly at a boogie boarder, veer off, and do a flip. The swimmers seemed startled but soon were splashing among the dolphins. I got up, ran toward the churning waters, but just as I got knee-deep, the dolphins disappeared.

A few weeks ago, in August of 2018, my wife and I were again at Torrey having lunch and playing backgammon; I decided to go body surfing and take advantage of the 80-degree water. As I waded out using my stingray shuffle, I saw a set of waves. A man and his young son knee-deep in the water were the only ones there. I hurried into chest-deep water. A wave was cresting and I was in perfect position. All of a sudden four dolphins appeared, coming straight at me in the crest of the wave. I felt I might hit one of them if I dove under; I decided to join them in the wave. I could feel them as I started sliding down the face. I looked left and right and saw nothing. Dolphins ride a wave a little below the surface, so they must have been right below me. I rode the wave all the way in, flipped out of the white water and stood up.The man and his son had looks of amazement, "Wow, you just rode that wave with four dolphins."