Guillermo Arrubla decided not to jump off the cliff at Spitting Caves in Portlock on Saturday when he arrived and saw how turbulent the water was, but the police officer from Arizona said he wound up in the ocean anyway — to save a woman’s life.

City Ocean Safety Division officials returned to the scene Sunday to pre­sent the 36-year-old with a merit award for putting to use lifeguard skills he learned as a teenager.

Arrubla said he watched a man jump from the cliff, return safely and heckle his female friend to do the same. She did but the current took over.

"When she got sucked out the second time, she kind of let out a little yelp … and that’s when her friend jumped in right away," Arrubla recalled. "He’s trying to guide her in … but you could just see her slowly start drifting out."

Arrubla, who grew up on Long Island, N.Y., and served as a New York Police Department officer for 71⁄2 years before transferring to the Phoenix Police Department almost 15 years ago, said he could no longer be a bystander. While others called 911 and his friend tossed the woman a beach ball, Arrubla climbed down the cliff.

"I wasn’t going to jump," he said.

Then a nearby resident offered two life vests.

"He’s yelling to her, ‘Swim in so I can throw this to you,’ and that’s when I was like, ‘Dude, you’re not going to throw that, there’s no way,’" Arrubla said. "So I was like, ‘You know what, give it to me,’ so I start putting it on and he was like, ‘What are you doing?’ And I was like, ‘I used to be a lifeguard, I can swim. I’ll make it to her, I just have to clear these rocks.’"

Arrubla said he put the vest on and lay down on the rock ledge instead of running into the water — to prevent himself from twisting an ankle or falling and hitting his head — and let the waves carry him out. The action left him with cuts on his forearms and hands, a hurt toe and a ripped bathing suit, he said.

He reached the woman and wrapped his legs around her so he could put the vest on her. He helped her swim inland, and the two waited for city Ocean Safety Division watercraft to pick them up.

"She’s like, ‘Oh my god, I’m so stupid, I’m so sorry,’ and I was like, ‘No, no, it’s fine; we got you,’" Arrubla said, adding that he talked with the woman to keep her calm.

Ocean Safety Division Lt. J.R. Sloane said the woman put herself, her rescuer and Ocean Safety personnel at risk. He urged swimmers to stay away from Spitting Caves.

"We come to rescues here on very frequent basis," Sloane said. "We don’t have a lifeguard tower here, and we really discourage people from coming here in the first place."

In October a 27-year-old California man died after jumping off and being unable to return to shore at Spitting Caves. Ocean Safety personnel found him unresponsive about 30 yards offshore.

Soon after recognizing Arrubla for his efforts, lifeguards watched as a young woman and two young men flung themselves off the cliff. They returned safely.

Sloane stood poised at the ledge, ready for another rescue.