The waves are a by-product of improvements to the groin (rock jetty) on the west side of the Newport Harbor entrance undertaken during the 1930s. When conditions are just right, and the waves approach the shore at the proper angle (south swells), an approaching wave will reflect off the jetty creating a second wave. The reflected wave meets up with the following wave of the set and forms a peak. Because of this effect, waves at the wedge are often several feet larger than waves at other south-facing beaches in Newport on any given day.
The Wedge only breaks big when intense Southern Hemisphere storms or large tropical depressions, and hurricanes send their energy from the proper SSW direction, primarily during the summer & fall months.
Between the Balboa Pier and the Wedge, waves are referred to as a shore or beach break. When the crest of the wave comes crashing down, regardless of its size, it lands in water no more than 1 to 2 feet (0.30 to 0.61 m) deep, and it will sometimes land directly on to the sand. This condition causes uninformed and inexperienced swimmers to be at extreme risk of a spinal cord injury. If a person is to "go over the falls," (fall with the water in the crest of the wave), he will commonly strike his head on the sand below the shallow water. Shore break waves are much thicker and stronger for their size than waves that break farther out. Their thickness increases the force in which they strike the ground. Lower Newport sees many spinal cord injury victims every summer who often end up as quadriplegics. The conditions at the Wedge are only for a swimmer in peak physical condition, with ample amounts of ocean experience and proper equipment.
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