![]() ![]() Then you'll be able to swim back to the beach in an alternative way. When it comes to most rips, 'white is nice, green is mean.'"įinally, if you just can't get out, let the rip take you out the back until it stops. "Whitewater will also bring you back to shore. "Whitewater is good because it means the water is shallower, and you may be able to stand up," adds Brander. If you still can't get out of the rip, look for whitewater and breaking waves. Then, if possible, swim towards the side of the rip, keeping in mind that rips are quite narrow. If you get caught in a rip current, you've got four rational alternatives.įirst, stay afloat and signal for help. Small rips will flow faster than the average person can swim. One of the most important rules is never to swim against the rip. Areas around human-made structures like jetties and piers.If there are breaks in between sandbars.Dark, discolored water being pulled offshore.Areas where there is a lot of foam, seaweed, or debris moving away from the shore.If you see areas in the ocean where the waves aren't breaking.Here's how to identify a potentially hazardous rip current: They may carry people into deep water beyond the shore break.įind out what it means to be caught by a rip current. Swash rips combine the uprush of water from a broken wave up the beach and its subsequent backwash downward. They only appear with storms and large swells. They tend to flow further offshore than fixed rips. Permanent rips are influenced by topography, so they sit and reappear in the same spot all the time. Flash rips flow quickly and are impossible to predict. They are dangerous and form in larger surf. Fixed rips appear as dark gaps of calmer water between breaking waves and whitewater.įlash rips move around all over the place, popping up and disappearing, and usually last for a few minutes. These currents can stay in the same place for days, weeks, and even months. It sits in deep channels snuggled between shallow sand bars. There are fixed rips, flash rips, permanent rips, mega rips, and swash rips.įixed rips are the most common ocean rips.
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