Film about Killer Dana seeks to tell story of extinct surf break

Larry Collins still smiles when reminiscing about the long, peeling waves that would show up during south swells in summer months at his favorite surf break, Killer Dana.

It was decades ago when Collins, who still lives in the beach town, was a regular at the now-extinct big-wave break, relished as one of the best surf spots along the California coast before it was destroyed by the formation of the Dana Point Harbor.

“I was very sad for quite a while,” Collins, 81, said on a recent day during a gathering of surfers who shared his love for the surf spot, gone now for nearly 60 years. “I still mourn it.”

A documentary is in the works, “Point Taken: The Legend of Killer Dana,” to tell the story that, if not documented, could be forgotten as more years pass.

A buzz filled the Killer Dana Surf Shop during the recent filming session that called on surfers who rode the wave to recount their memories, most now in their 80s and some in their 90s.

The documentary is the brainchild of Dan Krolczyk, a Rancho Mission Viejo waterman who grew up windsurfing and stand-up paddleboarding in the midwest.

He was in the Killer Dana Surf Shop buying surf gear for his sons when he asked owner Mike Foster where the name came from.

Foster, though too young to ever ride the wave, has been obsessed with the iconic surf spot’s history for years, so much so that when the retail store was in danger of shutting down in 2016, he scrambled to find investors and bought the shop to keep it alive.

Foster told Krolczyk about the big-wave spot that once ruled the Southern California, early-era surf scene in the ’50s and into the early ’60s.

“I became obsessed with it, without knowing I was obsessed with it,” Foster said. “It clicked with me that there’s so much history here in Dana Point that’s not told … I just always appreciated it and looked up to the guys who surfed it.”

It got its name, he said, because of the big rocks on the inside that would demolish surfboards when wave riders lost control. Leashes were not yet invented, he would tell the filmmaker, who listened in awe.

“This is a story that needs to be told,” said Krolczyk.

Krolczyk started researching stories about Killer Dana, but found little out there except a few old videos and articles.

He linked up with Tommy Anderson, a 30-year-old surfer who has a film production company, Charthouse Films, out of San Diego.

Anderson grew up surfing an hour south of where the surf break once was, but had never heard about Killer Dana, taken aback by the stories.

“It was shocking to me to not have heard the story before or anything about it,” Anderson said. “I think there’s a really unique element here to talk about what this space meant to surfers of yesteryear, and how situations like this could affect surfers of the future. That’s really something I’m interested in as a filmmaker.”

Anderson also hopes the film will open up a conversation about how to strike a balance between protecting a surf spot and development, he said.

Killer Dana’s demise came with the build-out of the Dana Point Harbor in 1966, a county project that put boat moorings where waves once rolled into shore, the rock jetty blocking the swell energy.

Krolczyk said that would likely not happen today – one social media post and 30,000 surfers would show up. But back then, few people surfed and ocean advocacy groups had yet to form. The loss of Killer Dana would rally surfers, who gathered to hold signs as the construction got underway, though it was too late to save the break.

“It’s kind of like they lost a small battle, but won the overall war on ocean rights,” Krolczyk said. “Things are different now.”

In the surf shop, videos of the surf break in the early ’60s filmed on 8mm film shot by Lorna Collins, Larry’s wife, stream on big television screens. Historic photos line the surf shop’s walls, with hopes for more if Foster can get funding.

Krolczyk was invited to the Collins’ home to watch the old black-and-white surf films, which have been digitized from their original film and set to music from the ’60s.

“You can have them,” they told Krolczyk.

“I was just completely floored,” he said.

Foster was thrilled to have the filming for the movie taking place in his surf shop. Since word started spreading, some of those who once surfed Killer Dana have been showing up to share stories regularly, meeting up and reminiscing about the good ol’ days while enjoying Thrifty ice cream (another shop offering).

“There hasn’t been an outlet and now we have old timers coming in here and talking, it’s kind of ignited it,” Foster said. “The history touches more people than we know.”

Krolczyk recounted an interview he did with Jean Pierre Van Swae, known as “Fly,” for the movie’s trailer, the story making him choke up with emotion.

“It was mesmerizing,” Fly says in the trailer. “To me, it was heaven.”

He recalled how the rumors of the harbor started in the early 60s — and then the trucks with rocks showed up.

“It just wouldn’t stop,” he said to the camera. “I knew that the show was over.”

The rocks were dropped to make the harbor, and the wave was forever gone.

“It’s like losing a good friend,” he said.

Have memories or footage of Killer Dana surf break? Visit killerdanamovie.com to submit.