Surfing>Safety: How to recognize a rip current in the ocean?

Question

I want to go surfing and for some reason a 30 foot wave gets me excited(I know their not for beginners but want to surf them one day) but rip currents sound scary.

Can I see it from the beach?

How do you know if you're caught in one?

Getting out of one?

Are they common?

Answer 1

Where you see the water rushing back to ocean quickly is where the rip tides are. However some are underwater and can not be seen. If you ever get caught in one DO NOT RESIST! Stay calm and wait for it to spit you back out. You might have been pushed out a ways, just swim back. If you resist a strong rip tide however it will only hold you in and you will waste valueable oxygen in your system. It's better to hold your breath and let it spit you back out, otherwise you will most likely drown if it is a strong rip tide. Once I was held under and pulled out over 200yds.....but I didn't fight it and I will still go back out in the ocean since I know how to handle it.

Answer 2

Rip currents are caused by the beach floor shape.  Unless you are looking through very clear water, you can't tell for certain if they are present.

Typically, it is caused by water filling up the trough between the beach and a sandbar further out.  The water fills the trough, then escapes back through gaps in the sandbar.  (Sort of like a gutter.)  The water rushes through the gap and can carry people with it.

If caught in a rip current, swim parallel to the shore.  You don't have much chance out-swimming it so don't fight it.  By swimming across it, you are moving away from the gap in the sandbar.  Once you clear the flow through the gap, then you can swim to shore.

- You know you are caught in one when you are being taken away from shore.

- They are common to particular areas.  The gulf coast of Mississippi would probably never have one because the beach floor is sloped so gradually that the water couldn't fill up the trough.  They occur frequently around the Florida panhandle.

- If you are scouting the 30' waves, I don't think that there is a problem.  Thirty foot waves pile up on beaches that have a steep slope.  A thirty footer would break at the sandbar.  Why surf a wave that has already broken?

(No warranty expressed or implied.)

Answer 3

To get out of one you swim parallel to the beach till you are out of it.

You can not always see one from the beach.

Before you go out surfing take a look at the waves, the breaks and know your beach for rocks and undertows.

Sometimes you can see a rip current because it looks like a smooth section, or stream with a  light foam edge.

Always surf near lifeguards if you are not experienced, and ask them about the beach. most would be glad to educate you rather than rescue you.

Answer 4

Actually you use rip currents to get outside, its a free ride.  A rip tide looks sort of like a river flowing either sideshore or out to sea.  It will be marked by a little chop and maybe some sand getting carried along.  At beaches, rips vary in location, but on reef breaks they are pretty constant.  If you ever want to get out of a riptide, do not panic, just swim (or paddle your board) perpendicular to the flow so you get to the edge of it and past the edge, paddling or swimming directly against the current never works, it only tires you out.  30 ft. waves sound VERY scary to me, and I have been surfing a long time.