Safety Tips for Dealing with Riptides at the Beach

Riptides Can Be a Very Dangerous Phenomenon at the Beach

When you visit the beach this summer, not every danger is visible. There is one which you can not see while on the shore or in the water that could endanger your life. This is the riptide. Knowledge is the best way to prepare in case you are caught in a riptide. Another term commonly used to describe the occurrence of a riptide is undertow. In general though, when people think of a riptide it is a very strong and fast version of the classic undertow. A gentle undertow at the beach is usually nothing that can't be escaped. A riptide though is an occurrence where too often people will panic and only add to the danger of the riptide itself. There are ways to protect yourself though.

So, what is a riptide? It is a stream of rapidly moving water that is heading away from the beach and back out into the ocean, in effect forming it's own current. If you are caught in this current there is a risk of being pulled out deeper into the ocean that you want to be. The biggest thing to remember though is that riptides in general are not extremely wide in area. This means if you react smartly instead of fighting against the riptide, you can get yourself out of it. If you are ever in the ocean and feel a swift current trying to pull you out into the ocean, swim parallel to the shore. Do not try to swim towards the shore, the riptide will be too strong to swim into and will quickly tire you out and increase the risk of the current taking you out into the ocean. Continue to swim parallel to the shore until you feel the current from the riptide weaken and eventually break. At this point you can either swim (if you are in water too deep to stand), or walk back to the shore if your feet can touch the bottom of the ocean.