Mikey C.
Yelp
Five Stars because I didn't die. Sure thought I was going to, though.
Passed by this beach dozens of times, but never stopped by for anything more than a quick look-see before this visit. Even though it has a sizeable parking lot, it fills up fast. You have to get here early or you will be parking up on K Hwy and lugging your gear down to the beach.
I pass by all the time because I'm usually going to Three Tables, Shark's Cove or Chun's Reef. But we had already visited those places this trip and I was kinda tired from snorkeling and needed a day to just chill on the beach or whatever. So we got the idea to hit up Long's, buy some of those foam noodles and just float all around the bay. So that's what we did.
It was a solid plan and we implemented it perfectly. We got here way early and got a great parking spot.
You can't help but notice there's a lot of action at this beach. I mean, this is like Party Central of the North Shore. Hipsters and random miscreants can reliably be found towards the left side of the beach, where there is a big rock cliff people jump off of. Which is to say, the left side is the Phil Zone.
Accordingly, we headed directly to the right side of the beach, or as I call it, the Jerry Side. We found a great place to lay down our towels and then lickety split, we were in the water. Oh baby, let me tell you that water was so warm. Wasn't sure I would like it, but I loved floating on the noodle. It was every bit as relaxing as anticipated.
Relaxing because there were not many people out as far as we were. The beach itself was noisy as hell, lame ass music blasting, kids shreiking. But the further you drift out onto the bay, the quieter it gets.
My wife was floating a couple feet away from me. We weren't really talking or anything, I mean, there wasn't anything that needed to be said. It was just a pure groove.
Then I heard my wife say, What's that in the water?
I quickly looked in her direction, then down into the water. We saw this huge dark creature rising through the water, straight for us.
I knew it was a shark. Of course it was going to be a shark. Every time I go in the ocean, every time, I'm worried about sharks. I'm so fat, I'd be like that super expensive Japanese beef to a shark. So much marbling! I knew it was only going to be a matter of time before one got me. Now, apparently this was it. They finally found me.
It happened so fast there was no time to react. The creature turned its body slightly so it was lined up prefectly with me. It swam right up to me and broke the surface about two feet away.
It all happened so fast I couldn barely process what was going down. My heart was pounding so hard I wouldn't be surprised if the people on the beach heard it. For about ten seconds I was pretty sure I was going to die.
But it wasn't a shark, it was a huge ass seal. For a moment I was like face to face with this gnarly, impressively whiskered, creature. He sized me up and then slid back under the water and swam away.
My wife and I looked at each other. I was like, whoa, what the hell just happened? My wife said, wow, that seal swam right up to you like he knew you. Then she gratuitously added: You probably look like a seal underwater.
Ouch. She's right, of course, but, ouch!
I said, OK, well all I know is I thought for sure that was a shark. That freaked me the hell out!
Then I had a thought. What animal eats seals? Sharks, right? So why am I floating around in the same body of water with seals? Suddenly it seemed like the perfect time to get the out of the water.
Mikey C says: thankfully, NOT as seen on Shark Week.