Trespassers risk life and limb at Damon Point

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, August 12, 2026

Tuesday night, between the hours of 8 and 9 p.m., the Ocean Shores Police Department and the U.S. Coast Guard responded to reports of three trespassers (two male, one female) stranded at Damon Point, colloquially referred to as Damon or Protection Island, and effected a surf rescue.

Two Coast Guard vessels and a helicopter were deployed, along with the Ocean Shores Marine Patrol and the first real-world scenario use of Ocean Shores Police Department’s rescue drones.

“We organized our Dolphin rescue drone and another drone to see if we could locate them in and around the water,” Ocean Shores Deputy Chief of Police Anthony Vierra said. “We got the Coast Guard involved. They were able to provide us with two vessels from Westport and a helicopter from Astoria [Oregon]. Once they were on scene we were able to coordinate with them.”

One male swam across the channel created at high tide and was escorted from the area by police. The other male was disoriented and wandering around Damon Point and eventually jumped in the water. He was later found clinging to the North Jetty’s rocks and had to be airlifted out. The female was located and airlifted from Damon Point.

Vierra said that it was a harrowing experience for everyone involved.

“I was able to locate the other male victim on ‘Protection Island,’ kinda walking around in circles, looked like he was suffering from hypothermia due to being in the water, he made his way to the channel, we tried to convince him to stay where he was, he chose to jump into the water and try to swim across and he was instantly swept toward the bay,” Vierra said. “The helicopter was able to do their initial search and located the female who was still on Protection Island and was able to lift her up off the island with their rescue basket. … I made my way toward the North Jetty from the marina side and located the other male victim crouched down between the rocks, and he was suffering from hypothermia and a severely injured left arm that was bleeding and looked possibly [broken]. … We were able to airlift him off the jetty rocks and they were able to take both victims to the airport where they transferred to medical staff.”

Damon Point has been officially closed by the city of Ocean Shores and the Washington Department of Natural Resources for a year and a half due to dangerous conditions.

“People are not to go out to Damon Point because the tides change considerably,” Vierra said. “You could be stuck out there between tides. It takes extreme resources to try and recover people from that. Depending on the situation, if it involves life or death, we do what we can to get them back to our side, but if they’re trapped over there during high tide and there’s no immediate threat to life or safety, they’re going to have to stay there until the next low tide so we can them safely across. We urge people not to go out to Damon Point, it is too dangerous even for just a walk.”

Vierra added that charges and the recovery of costs for the rescue may be in the offing.

“They made the access by the RV park, once you go left onto the RV park’s property, that’s considered trespassing, they had to cross the Quinault property and the little channel and the DNR, which is closed,” Vierra said. “We’re going to look at possibly doing charges and recovery of the rescue effort because it took significant resources to bring them all safe, which ultimately, at the end of the day, we want to make sure everybody is safe and bring them home safe. But there has to be some accountability for people doing stuff that’s very unsafe.”

Earlier this year, the city repurposed concrete barriers that had been placed near the entry points to Damon Point, which Vierra said has led to some confusion regarding the status of the area.

“We had it blocked off for awhile and didn’t have any issues. Since they reopened that section, I think this is my sixth rescue out there now, between kayakers, walkers and everything else,” Vierra said. “It’s going to have to get to the point we’re going to have to put up a physical barrier and anyone caught behind that barrier is going to have to face criminal trespass charges.”