Oct 03
A beautiful beach can look calm, inviting, and completely harmless while conditions in the water tell a very different story. Rip currents can form on sunny days. Waves can become stronger than they appear from shore. Thunderstorms can develop quickly. Hot sand and reflected sunlight can contribute to heat and sun exposure, and children can …
Sep 21
You arrive at the beach, look toward the lifeguard tower, and see a yellow flag snapping in the wind. Can you swim? What if the flag is red? What does purple mean? And is a green flag basically permission to stop worrying? Beach warning flags are designed to communicate current hazards quickly, but understanding them …
Sep 20
A rip current is a strong, narrow flow of water moving away from the shore through the surf zone. It is one of the most important beach hazards to understand because rip currents can occur even when the weather is sunny, the waves do not look particularly large, and plenty of other people are swimming. …
Sep 19
If you suddenly realize the beach is getting farther away even though you are swimming toward it, you may be caught in a rip current. The most important thing to know is surprisingly simple: Do not try to overpower the current. Rip currents carry water away from shore. They do not pull swimmers underneath the …
Sep 18
A weather app showing sunshine and 82°F does not necessarily mean it is a good day to swim in the ocean. Beach conditions depend on much more than whether it is raining. Rip-current risk, wave height, tides, wind, thunderstorms, water-quality advisories, marine-life warnings, beach closures, and local warning flags can all affect whether entering the …
Sep 17
The ocean does not need to look stormy to be too rough for swimming. Large breaking waves are an obvious warning, but dangerous conditions can also include strong rip currents, powerful shorebreak, rapidly changing swells, high winds, and currents that are difficult to see from the beach. There is also no single wave height that …
Sep 16
Is it better to visit the beach at high tide or low tide? The answer depends on what you want to do. Low tide is often better for beachcombing, tide pooling, long walks, photography, and exploring a wider stretch of exposed shoreline. High tide can be better for swimming at certain beaches because the water …
Sep 15
A tide chart can look confusing the first time you see one. There are times, numbers, high and low labels, curved lines, water heights, and sometimes abbreviations such as MLLW that seem designed for sailors rather than ordinary beachgoers. But the basic information is actually simple. A tide chart tells you when the water is …
Sep 14
The rain has stopped, the clouds are beginning to break, and the beach suddenly looks inviting again. It is natural to wonder whether the storm has passed enough for swimming to be safe. Sometimes it is. Sometimes it is not. A storm can leave several hazards behind even after the sky begins to clear. Waves …
Sep 13
A family beach day can be one of the easiest and happiest parts of a vacation. Children can spend hours splashing in the shallows, building sandcastles, collecting shells, and running along the shoreline. The ocean, however, is very different from a swimming pool. Waves, rip currents, changing tides, heat, strong sun, thunderstorms, and shifting water …
