If I ever swim again it will be in a chlorine pool.
RIP to the victims of the rip currents.
Swim into the mouth of a bull shark and it will carry you to shore. I promise.
I love the beach. If I weren’t too old to run away from hurricanes, I’d live on the Outer Banks.
But I saw someone caught in a rip current once. It goes so fast, if you don’t have the presence of mind to handle it right (and even if you do, sometimes) it’s very scary.
Fortunately, she was saved.
I decided I wouldn’t attempt going into the water after a big storm again; and it’s a good idea to take some tennis balls to throw in, to see where they go.
“Stinging jellyfish, rays with their whip-like tails and sharks on the hunt”
Thsts only a partial list of salt water Hazzards and thst doesn’t even include the land bound ones......and then there’s the weather.....and hurricanes are only part of it.
Florida is the state lightning strike capital of the country.
You forgot three. No natural shade, the sun reflecting off the light-colored sand, and the need to lavishly spread greasy sunscreen all over.
I had to pull my kid sister’s friend out of a rip tide at Jax Beach when I was in high school. Even though you grow up knowing what to do it was somewhat scary. Fortunately she wasn’t very far out when I noticed it but still I ended up a hundred yards or more down the beach by the time I swam us out of it. The undertow is so strong you have to experience it to believe it.
Swim straight down. Eventually you will pass out and wake up in a magical land. A dwarf will ask you two questions. If you guess them correctly he will transport you back to shore and you’ll be fine.
I live near the beach and would swim in the ocean all the time when I was young. I loved to body surf. However I would never go in unless I was in the zone of the life guards.
When I lived in Southern California years ago, people always said, “Swim parallel to the shore” if caught in a rip tide.
I didn’t swim in the ocean, so I never tested the advice.
“I never understood a beach vacation, been on a couple in my lifetime, sand in your shoes, saltwater, sharks, and rip currents.
If I ever swim again it will be in a chlorine pool.”
More space to swim, the sea air smells good and is good for your health unlike breathing bleach. The sea breeze cools the air 10 degrees or so on the hottest days which is amazing in the summer and you don’t even need to go in the water to feel it. Some people also really enjoy the ocean sound and surfing. On some beaches you can swim with tropical fish and other wildlife.
If you have idiots jumping in the pool near you, that is far more dangerous than sharks/currents.
Crystal clear lakes (aka natural pools) are the best for swimming IMO. Typically these are fed from springs and the water is constantly replaced.
I can take or leave the beach itself, but I really love drinking some quality beers at a beachfront/boardwalk bar.
The scenery can be amazing.
My understanding is that these currents only happen during ebb tide, that is to say going from high to low tide, when water is trying to get off the beach. But I'm willing to be corrected by something authoritative.
When I was about 13 I was caught in a rip current once in the ocean and felt as though I’d been sucked into a giant vacuum cleaner. I completed a couple years of swim school when I was younger and remembered to furiously swim perpendicular to the direction of the current. It worked but I almost exhausted my supply of air.
The first unplanned dead person I ever saw died by an undertow at Dauphin Island, Alabama. Dauphin Island was our hangout/school skip day location. The water can be very bad there, but somehow neither I or any of my friends ever drowned. Quick story; I used to ride with my buddy who was a Marine Police Officer. One time we spent an entire shift dragging for two teenagers at Dauphin Island. They had waded out to neck deep water to talk to a friend in a boat. The friend said they just disappeared while he was talking to them. Fortunately we didn’t find them and they floated up a couple days later.
There’s been five drownings in Galveston Texas this year as well.
In a rip current - swim parallel to the shore until you come out of it. Then float on in.
Then get some seafood at one of the many restaurants that sit by a beach.
saltwater, sharks, and rip currents.
and jellyfish