“I LOVE rip currents. Express trains through the surf line.”
You must be a surfer dude. Surfer dudes can do lots of stuff that would kill us ordinary folks. Once I was swimming at Puerto Escondido and got caught out in some twelve foot surf. It was just beating me to death. I waved at a surfer and he paddled over and gave me his board. Saved my life, I’m sure. I went to thank him the next day at a restaurant, and all he said was, “Yeah, it was gnarly out there.” Great guy.
Yeah, I'm from SoCal. I was body surfing 10 foot waves when I was 11 years old. The life guards didn't like it one bit — a scrawny little kid fighting his way through the surf line — but I was keeping up with the surfers, so what could they say?
I did a little board surfing, but became obsessed with SCUBA diving at the age of 14. The same skill set comes in handy when you have to get past the surf line to the kelp beds. Just find that turbid streak of water cutting through the surf and ride it on out.