What to do if caught in a Rip Current
In most cases, visitors are unaware of the danger surrounding rip currents and many lives are lost each year.
The safest strategy would be to avoid rip currents altogether and to swim at a beach where lifeguards are on duty, and if they are not on duty do not swim.
Rip currents can move at speeds of up to 2 meters per second, which is a lot faster than many can swim. They can range in width from a few meters to a hundred meters.
A riptide is not a rip current – it is formed as the tide ebbs and flows through a narrow opening such as in the case of the Knysna estuary. These currents develop where there are breaking waves. The bigger the waves, the stronger the current that is produced by water moving from the land back out to sea.
How to spot a rip current and what to do if you are caught in one
Factors to look out for:
- The water through a surf zone is a different colour from the surrounding water
- There is a change in the incoming pattern of waves (often the waves do not break in a rip channel).
- Debris, seaweed, or sand ‘clouds’ moving out towards the backline where the waves form through the surf zone
- Choppy or turbulent water in the surf zone, in a river like shape, flowing away from the beach
Important things to remember if you are caught in a riptide:
- Do not panic
- Stay calm and force yourself to relax
- You cannot win a fight with the ocean.
- Swim conservatively and slowly out of the current or simply relax and let it carry you out past the breakers until it slacks.
- Swim at 90 degrees to the direction that you are being pulled and then use the waves to help you get back to the beach.
- Rip currents are not an “undertow,” and will not pull you under the water. As long as you can float you will be safe until you can escape the current, by swimming to the side (out of it) and then back to the beach.
- Be sure to maintain a slow and relaxed pace until you reach the shore or assistance arrives. If there are lifeguards are on duty, raise your arm and wave for assistance.
What to do if you see someone in a rip current:
- Do not attempt to help unless you are trained and have emergency flotation such as the NSRI Pink Rescue Buoy or a surfboard.
- Throw something that floats into the rip current which will carry it out to the person in difficulty.
- At some beaches, this will not work and the only option is to call for assistance.
The Pink Rescue Buoy signs have emergency numbers for the closest NSRI station.
Rip Current Video: English
Rip Current Video: Xhosa
Rip Current Video: Zulu
Videos produced by the NSRI