Best Way to Survive a Riptide

It’s getting hotter and our beaches will soon be packed so it’s a good time to talk about ocean safety, especially when it comes to riptides, which are an extreme danger to even the best of swimmers.  I grew up in L.A. and according to my parents I knew how to swim before I could walk.  I also spent all my summer vacations going to the beach.

At age 14, I was at Santa Monica beach with some friends and we were in the water for what seemed like hours body surfing and playing in the waves.  At some point the waves began getting bigger and coming faster and I was unable to swim in to the shore.  I was swimming as hard and as fast as I could, but getting nowhere and getting pounded by the waves. I can remember being held underwater by each wave then swimming up once it passed over me, getting only a few seconds to catch my breath until another wave hit me.

I was screaming for help and getting really exhausted.  I can’t recall how long it went on for until someone snatched me up and brought me in to shore.  The man, by the way, was not a lifeguard, he was someone’s dad who’d heard me screaming for help and took action.

For years I believed I had been caught in high tide and it made me fearful of the ocean I once loved. About 20 years later, while living here in Redondo Beach, a young man drowned, due to a riptide and his inability to get out of it.  This was when I finally learned what had happened to me, and what I should have done at the time.  It seems crazy to me that any California native would not know this simple survival tactic.  So I asked my friend and former Junior Lifeguard, Savanah, to give me tips on how to get out of a riptide.  According to Savanah, staying calm is the key.

How to get out of a riptide:

1. Don’t struggle or panic
2. Swim calmly to the right or left, parallel to the shore
3. Swim with the current until you are out of it and can swim in to shore

Here’s a great site I found that explains riptides and how to identify and avoid them, be sure to check out the short video above that creatively demonstrates how to survive a riptide.