HUNTINGTON BEACH – Johndee Catibog wasn’t expecting his private moment to go so very public.

He wanted something unique and something grand to propose to his girlfriend of nearly five years, Cynthia Go.

But his gesture was so unique that it grabbed the attention of various media outlets and thousands of readers wanting to know the story behind the couple with the proposal etched in the sand.

“I can’t even believe it,” Go said in an interview Tuesday night. “I feel like I’m living in a dream right now.”

When the photograph of the beach proposal was first released, it left hundreds speculating online about whether it was an advertisement or a special moment for a couple.

It turned out to be very real.

Go and Catibog, both 30, got engaged on Sunday standing in the middle of an extravagant sand art display near the cliffs at Huntington Beach.

“He’s so amazing. I can’t believe he planned all this,” Go said. “It was perfect.”

Catibog wanted to propose in Sunset Beach, the place he met Go in 2007, but had to move it a few miles south to Huntington Beach so they could have an aerial view of the sand.

“I figured I always wanted to do it at the beach,” the Long Beach resident said. “It just seemed right.”

He got the idea for the artistic sand proposal after his sister and brother-in-law told him of an artist in San Francisco known for creating unique sand carvings, including pieces for proposals.

The San Francisco artist knew of a Santa Monica artist who practiced the same art.

Andreas Hoenigschmid worked with Catibog for several months designing the proposal piece.

Catibog asked Hoenigschmid to carve a ring in the middle of the sculpture that would look like the Javid Moreh ring Catibog would be proposing with.

The proposal would have to take place on a low tide day and early in the morning so the water would not wash away the message.

That day, May 20, happened to be the day of Go’s 30th birthday brunch.

“A month ago she wanted me to take her on a date because she felt like we hadn’t gone out in awhile,” Catibog said. “I told her I had a surprise date planned.”

Go lives in Los Angeles and works in marketing for Hulu; Catibog is a systems analyst. Go simply thought coming to Orange County meant a birthday surprise was waiting for her.

The early morning hour didn’t spark any suspicion because she had asked her now-fiancé to plan a romantic date and figured the day of her birthday celebration seemed a good day to pick.

She thought maybe a romantic gondola ride was in store but instead found an even more romantic message written in the sand.

“One of my friends thought I was going to get engaged,” she said. “But I said, ‘No, this date was my idea.'”

“It was the last thing I expected that day.”

She looked over the railing to see the sand art that read “Cyn, will you marry me?”

It had a giant diamond ring as the centerpiece, flanked with roses. The art took more than three hours to carve into the coastline.

A photo turned into the H.B. Wave by a Register reader started a quest to find the identity of the couple. The Facebook post drew 600 likes, 153 shares and 93 comments between the Wave’s page and The Orange County Register’s page – many by people wondering about the couple’s identity or commenting on the beauty of the sand sculpture and romance.

People started posting the Register’s story on Go’s Facebook page along with dozens of congratulatory messages. Friends called saying they saw her story on the news, and another said they saw it on the Yahoo home page, she said.

Go said she is shocked by the attention their proposal has received, adding although it was in a public place, the moment was very personal.

“He did it for me. No one else was there,” she said. “I’m just really excited to marry him.”

Contact the writer: 714-796-7953 or jfletcher@ocregister.com