Rip Currents In NJ: What To Look For, How To Survive Them

NEW JERSEY — The return of the summer is drawing people back to the beach, and on hot days especially, a dip in the ocean seems like the best way to tame the temperatures.

Swimming, body boarding or even wading is time-honored fun, but it's important to remember there are risks. Among them: rip currents.

Rip currents can occur any time, even when the surf is seemingly calm, the National Weather Service says. And they are one of the most frequent causes of drowning at the Jersey Shore.

"Great weather for the beach does not always mean it's safe to swim or even play in the shallows," the National Weather Service says. "Rip currents often form on calm, sunny days."

Rip currents lead to drownings every summer at the Jersey Shore, and lifeguards up and down the coast make hundreds of rescues of people who get caught in them. There's a common denominator in most deaths from rip currents: Swimming on an unguarded beach.

The National Weather Service has information on how to spot a rip current, what to do if you're caught in one and how you can save yourself if help is not nearby.

The first words of advice: Do not swim where there are no lifeguards present.

In a rip current, the water will be pulling away from the shore and can pull even the most skilled swimmers under water and out a distance in a matter of seconds.

Here's what one looks like, in this 2021 photo by Gregory Andrus of Portraits of the Jersey Shore:

The water where the rip current exists is moving in the opposite direction from the waves that are breaking onshore to the left of it as you look at the photo.

If you find yourself caught in a rip current, the National Weather Service says take the following steps to escape:

• Don’t fight the current. It’s a natural treadmill that travels an average speed of 1-2 feet per second, but has been measured as fast as 8 feet per second — faster than an Olympic swimmer.
• Relax and float to conserve energy. Staying calm may save your life.
• Do NOT try to swim directly in to shore. Swim parallel to the shoreline until you escape the current’s pull. When free from the pull of the current, swim at an angle away from the current toward shore.
• If you feel you can’t reach shore, relax, face the shore, and call or wave for help.
• Remember: Wave and yell ... swim parallel.

The National Weather Service's Mount Holly office forecasts the risk of rip currents daily, but points out that "rip currents are always possible, especially near jetties and other structures."

This 1-minute YouTube video on rip currents produced by the U.S. Lifesaving Association also shows what they look like and how to escape them.