About 15 years ago my wife and I were at Carmel during this week in January.
There was a surfing contest, and helicopters were dropping the surfers into the water a mile or so off shore.
Even those pros couldn’t get past the incoming waves.
The huge waves would come crashing into the beaches making any landing a big question mark. That coupled with the King tides forced many surfers to leave their boards and run like hell inland after they hit the beach.
I believe it was Mavericks where tow-in by jet ski was first initiated. Could have been elsewhere, but it is now the norm for monster waves. I also believe that Laird Hamilton (big wave living legend) was the first to try it or some guys at Mavericks. Correct me if I'm wrong.