Surfer rescued at Crystal Cove beach

First-responders speculate that a surfer found floating face down in the water Thursday morning off Crystal Cove State Beach likely crashed into the sea floor while trying to catch a wave.

Newport Beach Battalion Chief Steve Bunting said the man, whose name and age were not immediately available, was surfing with friends Thursday morning when he injured himself and couldn’t swim to shore on his own.

The group was surfing on the southern tip of Crystal Cove, also known as El Morro, about 8 a.m. when one of them called 911 about their fellow surfer. One in the group, a trained Emergency Medical Technician and student at Saddleback College, swam to his friend and turned him face up, opening his airway, Bunting said. The surfer was breathing and talking as the men swam him to shore, he said.

The area is tough to drive on, officials said, so Laguna Beach and Newport Beach firefighters called in a helicopter to fly the man out. Within 20 minutes, the surfer was en route to Mission Hospital’s trauma center, Bunting said.

The man was admitted with moderate injuries Thursday, officials said.