Something Hit His Kayak From Below a Mile Off Cambria. He Swam Home.

CAMBRIA, Calif., Oct. 28, 2026 — A local kayak fisherman was about a mile off Leffingwell Landing on Monday morning when something hit the bottom of his boat hard enough to flip it and throw him into the Pacific.

He did the sensible thing and climbed right back on. Then the kayak started filling with water through punctures in the hull, and he had to abandon it and swim the rest of the way to shore, KSBY reported. He made it in around 9:30 a.m. without a scratch.

The Cambria Fire Department sent its rescue boat out to collect the kayak, his fishing gear and his belongings. Chris Lowe of the Shark Lab at California State University, Long Beach, looked over photos of the damage and said it "was reasonable to assume the kayak had been struck by a shark," according to a fire department post quoted by The San Luis Obispo Tribune reported. Fire officials were careful to add that shark involvement "remains suspected."

The stretch of coast has history. A shark knocked another kayak fisherman into the water near Leffingwell Landing in 2012, and in 2019 another kayaker reported a roughly 10-foot great white off Cambria. Both walked away unhurt, too.

Lowe recommended posting warning signs at the beach. California has logged 233 shark incidents since 1950, and 36 of them involved someone in a kayak or canoe.