Man Drowns at Central Oregon Coast's Thor's Well, Near Yachats

Published 09/15/25 at 9:25 p.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Yachats, Oregon) – A dangerous part of the Oregon coastline proved its potential today when a man fell into Thor's Well near Yachats and drowned. (Photo detail: YRFPD).

According to Yachats Rural Fire Protection District (YRFPD), the call came in at about 3:36 p.m. Monday that a person had fallen into the water at Thor's Well, a few miles south of Yachats. The attraction is a roundish hole in the basalt rock, part of a rocky shelf right on the ocean.

YRFPD said the person appeared to be drowning when the 911 call came in. Units arrived shortly after from YRFPD, US Coast Guard, Oregon State Police and Lincoln County Technical Rescue Team.

“The first arriving units were met with conflicting reports from bystanders about whether or not the subject was still in the water, though units were quickly able to determine that the subject was in the water in Thor's Well,” YRFPD said. “Due to wave conditions, and the nature of the well, personnel on the ground were unable to perform any recovery efforts.”

YRFPD said the USCG helicopter arrived from North Bend around 4:10 p.m. By this time, the unnamed man had drowned and it had become a recovery effort. After two unsuccessful attempts, a USCG rescue swimmer was finally able to retrieve the body. [Thor's Well at the Chasm,]

Units began leaving the area at 5:09 p.m., YRFPD said.

“The events leading up to the subject falling into the water are unclear, but one bystander reported believing that the subject had been getting too close to the edge of the well,” the agency said. “Yachats Rural Fire Protection District offers condolences to the family of the deceased.”

This is at least the third death in the area since 2016. One of those was a man from Hawaii, where the man's sister attempted to rescue him but was injured doing so. From 2016: Some Sun, Big Waves for Oregon Coast - Warnings After 2 Deaths

Thor's Well is an area that attracts many, and visitors often venture too close. In spite of warnings from locals sometimes on the scene, this is ignored.

Visitors erroneously believe they're safe because they don't see how many waves fire up over onto the rocky stretches and how often, but even under calmer conditions this can happen anyway. It simply can take a while. Extremely large waves do come crashing over quite regularly. A good rule of thumb is that if you see large pools of fresh sea water on those outcroppings – do not go there. Especially if the pools start getting larger the closer you get to the edges. This means the waves have come over the sides in the last hour or two and they will do so again.

Why Do So Many Ignore Oregon Coast Wave Warnings? Answer is ...

There is copious video out on the internet of people venturing too close and nearly getting knocked over by waves, including this photo of a photographer getting drenched by large waves (scroll down the story).

Oregon Coast Beach Connection spoke with several residents in the area in 2018 when Thor's Well was becoming a hot button issue. They said they would often have someone keep watch in the area as much as possible and warn people not to get close. These warnings were usually shrugged off – roughly about 75 percent of the time. Some beach explorers actually flipped them off.

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