Swim out of the turbulent current. The rip current is the most dangerous type of sea currents

Our experienced team of editors and researchers contributed to this article and reviewed it for accuracy and completeness.

The number of sources used in this article:. You will find a list of them at the bottom of the page.

If you don't swim well, ask for help. Backcurrents are especially dangerous for people who cannot swim. If you are not sure if you can get to the shore on your own, call the rescuers, wave your arms and call for help.

Try to swim parallel to the shore to avoid being caught in an ebb current. Most ebb currents are about 9 m wide, but they can be as much as 30-60 m. Instead of trying to swim against the current, which is much stronger than you, swim parallel to the shore to try to emerge from the ebb current. The current will carry you farther and farther from the shore, but don't panic. This is not a reliable method, but it should help a good swimmer. If possible, look around for signs of reverse flow before diving into the water:

Save energy if necessary. If you swim, but do not move forward, if you are very tired, save your strength. Swim on your back or just stick to the water instead of trying to resist the current. As soon as you pass the cleaving waves, the current will slow down and branch out into several streams, becoming weaker and weaker. If you don't have the strength to get back to shore, stay afloat and relax until you regain strength. Continue to call for help if there are other people on the shore.

Swim diagonally to the shore. As soon as you manage to swim out of the ebb current (either you manage to swim out on your own, or you will be carried ashore by the current), immediately go ashore. Swimming diagonally off the tide will minimize the risk of getting caught again. You can stay at some distance from the shore, periodically stopping or turning over on your back if you need to rest.

• Despite the common name "underwater" ebb current drags people deep into the sea, but it does not suck people under the water. In fact, there is no current that would suck people under the water from the coastal zone. A series of waves that “sweep” you near the shore can create the illusion that you are sinking deeper and deeper into the water. But, in fact, there is no need to try to "float" to the surface. Focus on staying afloat and saving your energy.
• Never swim alone.
• Feel free to call for help. If you do not know how to behave, if you feel that you are caught in an ebb tide, and there is a lifeguard post nearby on the beach, start calling for help. Coastal rescuers have the experience and knowledge of low tide currents.
• The tide is dangerous, but not a death sentence. Rescuers sometimes deliberately fall into the ebb tide in order to quickly reach someone drowning outside the surf, and surfers find ebb currents useful because they make it easier to catch the wave with their help. Lifeguards and surfers are, of course, very experienced swimmers and have a wealth of experience in different conditions, but you shouldn't deliberately try to get into the tide. If this does happen, stay calm.
• In fact, the term "ebb current" describes a similar narrow strip in the sea with a fast current that appears at low tide. It is much more powerful than a simple ebb current, but it is only found in narrow water channels. These areas are prohibited from visiting and swimming due to the deadly danger.

There are enough sunny days, long rains can go at night, and short-term showers can be charged during the day for half an hour or an hour. In summer, as in any other month of the year, cyclones occur, when for several days the sky is covered with clouds and sometimes it rains. This is a brief theory of weather forecast for any year, you can find out more accurate data only in practice.

Few of the guests of Phuket Island think about the waves in the sea that the western monsoons bring with them. It is in May that the direction of the wind changes, which is why the sea ceases to be calm on popular beaches. If you like splashing in the waves, then you need to know that in Phuket the waves can be much larger than those in which you are used to swimming. A real surfer's paradise opens its doors from May to October. Professional surfers know the basics of safety on the water, but sunbathers and swimmers need to explain to them what I'm going to do today.

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The rainy season is not dangerous at all with rains, but with waves in combination with reverse currents, due to which dozens of people drown every year. Even a master of sports in swimming does not always know how to act in such a situation. The sea and ocean are very different from the usual lakes and rivers. Tidal waves roll onto the shore and then go back to the sea, forming a rip current. This phenomenon is also called a wave-draft, it can be found on the Azov and Black Seas. With each breakthrough wave, a mass of water is formed near the coast, which collects in a channel and goes back to the sea. The reverse flow speed can be up to 2-3 meters per second. If a person falls into such a dangerous channel, he will instantly be carried out to sea, despite all the efforts made.

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There are several types of reverse currents in Phuket. Some exist in any month, in any season, on any beach. Others vary in time and space and are noticeable on deeper beaches or in parts of the beaches. Their danger increases with the arrival of monsoon winds, when waves appear on the sea and spontaneous and unpredictable rip currents are formed. Such reverse currents are especially pronounced on the beaches of Karon, Surin, Bangtao,.

What to do in a situation if you feel that you are in a reverse flow channel?

1. No need to panic and swim to the shore
This main mistake that people commit when they find themselves in a reverse flow. Frightened by the behavior of the sea, many begin to paddle to the shore with all their might and lose their strength. Seeing that nothing is working out, people fall into panic, which is not the best friend of sober decisions. Remember that rip currents are the mass of water on the surface that rushes back into the ocean; it does not form funnels or eddies, and will not drag you to the bottom.

2. Wave your arms
Raise your hand and wave, this will attract the attention of people and lifeguards if they are on duty at the beach.

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3. Swim parallel to the shore
To get out of the reverse current, you need to swim along the coast. The channel itself is usually 5-20 meters, the maximum width of the reverse current can be up to 50 meters, but it is easy to get out of it if you swim parallel to the shore.

4. Keep your head above water
All that is required of you in such a situation is to keep your head above the water and swim out of the reverse current. You can feel that you have got out of the channel, then the waves will begin to carry you to the shore.

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How to find out the backflow channel?

The rebound currents spontaneously arise in different places and disappear during the day. Recognizing them is not always easy, but possible. Sometimes breaks of several meters in the band of oncoming waves are noticeable, or the waves tend to one point on the coast, and between them a section of water is noticeable moving perpendicularly from the coast to the sea. Such a channel may differ in color and uniformity. For example contain sand slurry, foam and bubbles, or bubbling water.

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Bathing safety measures

Be sure to pay attention to the color of the flags on the beach. A green flag speaks of a calm sea and safe swimming conditions. The yellow flag indicates some dangers when swimming, do not swim alone. The red flag warns of the danger that swimming is strictly prohibited. Two red and yellow flags mark the area between them, where it is safe to swim, and lifeguards are on duty. And the black and white flag with four squares speaks of the possibility of surfing and jet skiing in this site beach, but warns of the dangers of routine swimming.

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An involuntary question arises: what to do if there is a red flag on our beach all the time? In no case should you show your courage and go into the water. Do not swim at night and in drunk... For relaxation and swimming, choose beaches without waves or with a gentle approach. There are never big waves, they break on a coral reef far from the coast. In the south of Phuket Island - the beaches of Cape Panwa, Ao Yon - in Coral and Trai Trang Bay near Patong there are no waves, but the tide is pronounced, but you can swim at high tide every day. On Kata Beach, where entry into the sea is relatively gentle, the waves are not as large during the monsoon season as on deeper beaches. On the Nai Harn beach, you can swim in the bay in the very south. All year round you can swim on the beaches of the islands on the east side of Phuket: Bon, Lon, He, Yao Yai, Yao Noi, Maprao, Rang Yai, Khai Nok, Naka Yai and others. Due to monsoons and waves, the Similan Islands are closed from May 1 to November 1, but all other excursions are held. Enjoy your stay!

Many people who swim well or float well on the water do not understand how you can drown near the shore. Hearing the holiday news bulletins of tourists “killed off the coast,” they think the victims either did not know how to swim or were drunk. But the reason is completely different.

We are talking about a very dangerous, but little-known phenomenon - rip currents, which are often also called "rips" and "rips" (English - rip current). They are found in all corners of the planet - in the Gulf of Mexico, and on the Black Sea, and on the island of Bali. They may not be able to cope with, not only ordinary people but also first-class swimmers because they just don't know how to behave.

Everything happens unexpectedly: So you swam from the coast, then turned back, but nothing happens ... You swim with all your might, but stay in one place or even move further away. All attempts are unsuccessful, your strength is running out and you are close to panic ...

First, it's important to understand how rip works.... This is a type of sea and ocean currents directed at right angles to the coast and formed in the process of the flow of tidal water flowing towards the sea.

The most dangerous are the rip currents in shallow seas with a gentle coast, which is framed by sandbanks, spits and islets (the Sea of ​​Azov, etc.). In these places, at low tide, the return of the mass of water to the sea is prevented by sand spits. The water pressure on the narrow strait connecting the sea with the estuary increases many times over. As a result, a fast flow is formed, along which water moves at a speed of 2.5–3.0 m / s.

Schematically, it looks like this:

reverse flow towards the sea goes perpendicular to the coast:

These "corridors" appear in different places near the coast during high tides. Waves roll in and bring water mass, and then at different speeds go into the sea or ocean, while forming a reverse current.

Usually the rip corridor is narrow: 2-3 meters with a current speed of 4-5 km / h. This is not dangerous. However, rip currents with a width of up to 50 meters and a length of up to 200-400 meters can occur, at a speed of up to 15 km / h! Rips of this length are infrequent, but still happen.

How to define this current so as not to get into it? Pay attention to the following markings:

1. Visible channel of seething water, perpendicular to the shore.

2. In the coastal area there are areas with a different shade of water: for example, everything around is light blue or greenish, and some area is white.

3. An area of ​​foam, some kind of marine vegetation, bubbles, which is steadily moving from the coast to the open sea.

4. In the continuous strip of tidal waves, there is a 5–10-meter gap.

If you see any of the above, consider yourself lucky and just don't go swimming in this place. But don't forget that 80% of dangerous spontaneously arising rips do not visually manifest themselves in any way.

Offshore currents arise. That is, even if you are standing in water up to your waist, and even more so up to your chest, you can be picked up by a rip and carried into the sea. But just those who cannot swim do just that - they just stand in the water and enjoy.

Therefore, do not swim alone or ignore the red flags and signs on the beach.

The most important point: How to behave to those who are caught in such a current?

Rules of conduct in the rip current:

1. Overcome your panic! Pull yourself together, because people, knowledgeable rules behavior in rip, are saved in 99% of cases.

2. Save your strength! You do not need to row with all your strength against the current, losing energy reserves. You need to swim not to the shore, but to the side, parallel to the beach. If the rip is narrow (up to 5 meters), you will get out of it very quickly.

3. Analyze! If you row according to the rules - to the side, but you can't get out, then the rip is wide (from 20 meters or more). Then we immediately stop wasting energy and panic! The reverse flow is usually short and after 3-4 minutes it will stop. After that, sail 50-100 meters to the side, and only then return to the shore with respite.

It is important to consider and remember the following:

1. Rip will not drag you to the bottom.

This is not a whirlpool or funnel. Most often, the rip currents are short and only the upper layer of water moves at high speed, which drags from the coast along the surface, but not to the depth!

2. The rip is not very wide.

Its width does not exceed 50 meters. And in most cases it is only 10–20 meters. As a result, having swum along the coast literally 20-30 meters, you will notice that you have come out of the rip.

3. Rip length is limited.

The current weakens rather quickly, the "draft" loses its strength where the waves reach their peak and begin to break. In surfer slang, this place is called "line up" (line up). All surfers who are preparing to conquer the incoming waves gather in it. Usually it is located no further than 100 meters from the coast.

The action of the rebound flow is very clearly shown in the video below:

Please share this information with your friends. Let as many people as possible learn about rip currents. Perhaps, by doing so, you will save not only your own life, but also the lives of other people.

Hello friends. How can you go to the sea and not want to swim? Especially exotic countries and warm seas... Even if you are an excellent swimmer, are not afraid of the waves, you can still get into a very unpleasant situation on the water. And sometimes, a very dangerous situation. We would like to tell you about rip currents, or "pulls".

For sea lovers, they are one of the biggest dangers on the water. The most important thing is that it is very difficult to detect such a flow "by eye". They usually form spontaneously close to the coast.

Today we will talk about a very dangerous phenomenon. It is found in the sea and is not so rare. Its strength can be different. We are talking about rip currents. They were called rips, from English - rip current. They are also called "drags" due to the fact that they literally drag a person along the course of their course. They are present not only somewhere far, far beyond the oceans. There are rips even on the Black Sea. But, more often found in the Gulf of Mexico, in Bali.

The worst thing is that even a professional swimmer, once in a rip, will not be able to cope with the current. It is difficult to prepare for this, but you need to know how to behave correctly. Then the tyagun will become just an unpleasant adventure, and the person will safely leave the rip zone.

What is rip

Imagine a summer day at sea. You decide to take a dip and everything goes great. Affectionate waves, pleasant sun. The man swam and decides to go back to the shore. This is where the problems begin, because you swim with all your might, but stay in one place or even worse - the sea pulls back. A person begins to panic, he is exhausted, wastes energy.

This is the most dangerous moment - fear, panic, misunderstanding of what is happening.

Rips are formed at right angles to coastline... This is the zone of departure of the tidal wave from the coast. The most dangerous places where this can happen is shallow water, especially next to sand bars that prevent the free outflow of water. Here the speed inside the rip can reach 3 meters / second!

Most often, they appear during high tides, when masses of water return from the coast back to the sea at different speeds.

Schematically it looks like this:

The rip is easy to see from the air or from an elevation, but it can be invisible right on the water. This is another of his danger - it is impossible to predict where he is.

By the way, from time to time you can find small currents 2-3 meters wide. Most likely, don't even pay attention to them. This is not dangerous.

The real danger is the rip currents but 200-300 meters out into the sea, the width of which reaches 50 meters.

How to recognize a dangerous ripple current

Remember what it looks like:

• A stream of seething water is clearly visible perpendicular to the shore.
• The traction zone has a different color or shade of water.
• We noticed sea plants, some kind of debris or just foam, which quickly move in a straight line towards the open sea.
• A break or several breaks of the tidal wave are visible.

Did you see any of this? Super! Do not go swimming in this area and warn other bathers about the danger.

The worst thing is rips, which cannot be visually distinguished from ordinary waves. They can appear spontaneously even when they are already at sea.

Its strength is great, so that even a person who is standing in the water can be caught by a sudden current. Unfortunately, this is how those who cannot swim take a rest. For them, this can be a mortal danger.

Do not swim where rips occur frequently. This is usually reported in the weather report.

Watch for red flags on the beach, even if the water seems calm to you. Red flags mean serious danger to bathers.

How to behave if caught in a rip

1. Overcome your panic. Pull yourself together and act intelligently and meaningfully. Remember - there is a way out of the situation!

It is very important to quickly understand what happened. You can get out of a short rip quickly, effortlessly. Long can be scary. Better concentrate and remember these simple rules.

2. You do not need to swim to the shore - this way you will lose strength.

Swim parallel to the shore, because the rip is a "channel". It can be narrow, from 2-3 meters to 50 meters.

3. You are sailing parallel to the shore, but that doesn't help?

We have already said that such an area with the flow is not infinite. Just keep on the water and do not lose sight of the coastal strip, the current will carry you away from the coast, but the rip will soon be over. As soon as you feel it, immediately swim to the side for 50-100 meters.
The main thing is not to let fear get the best of you! Yes, it is unpleasant to get into a rip current, but it is better for him to submit than to fight with it.

Important information

Remember, that:

1. It won't drag you to the bottom, rip works differently.
2. They are very rarely wider than 50 meters.
3. The length is always limited! Just wait, this will be over soon.

We wish you a relaxing sailing trip and a great vacation!

Backflow or Rip

Many Russian tourists and vacationers do not know what awaits them when swimming in the sea with waves. Everyone loves to enjoy swaying on the waves, jumping or diving on the oncoming wave. Yes, this is often a pleasure and does not bode well, the bottom is near, and the coast is not far away. Moreover, if you are resting through a travel agency, they usually never warn you what to expect when swimming and what dangers may arise on this place recreation. And this, deadly reverse flow or as it is also called RIP... It will be deadly if you do not know how to get out of it.

Imagine ocean waves that roll ashore, bringing more and more water. And all this water mass does not remain on land, but returns back to the ocean. This reverse movement of water occurs through channels that arise as a result of the action of waves crashing against the shore.

The waves break on the coastal shallows, and then, accumulating in one place, go back, forming a reverse current, as if a river flows in the ocean. And this place is the most dangerous on the whole beach. In this channel, the current speed can reach 2-3 meters per second, and if you suddenly get into it, then you will be abruptly carried away from the coast. At this moment, most people begin to panic, they frantically struggle with the current and persistently row back towards the shore. But the waves continue to cover, and, having lost strength, a person seriously risks drowning.

The story of a real person who has been in this situation:

“This is exactly what happened to us. For many years we have been resting in different places of our country and abroad, but they did not know anything about this, no one had ever warned about it that it was dangerous and even fatal. And so, ohwe rested in Thailand on the Coron beach, there were not big waves (there, in principle, there are almost always waves), we decided to jump with my wife on the waves, while we did not go deep, only to the waist. But with each lift off the bottom, we were carried farther and farther. At first they did not notice this, calmly swam enjoying the waves, but when the legs no longer reached the bottom and the speed of the current increased, panic began. We immediately decided to swim to the shore, but noticed that we were not approaching it, but only moving away. At the same time, having swam towards the coast for about 10 minutes, the forces were already running out, panic reached a maximum and assessing the situation, they realized that it was no longer realistic to swim to the coast.

In this situation, you can already say goodbye to life. They shouted, called for help, but it was too far to the shore, no one heard. And we were carried away further and further. I pushed my wife to the shore with the last of my strength, but we were still carried farther into the sea. They realized that it was useless to do this, they just lost their strength. Imagine how the person feels in this situation. We have already said goodbye to life and it was a shame that we had come to rest, but here it is. There were no lifeguards on the shore, only Thais renting scooters, and there were very few people. By chance, someone noticed that we were waving our hands and realized that people were drowning.

A crowd of onlookers gathered and everyone just looked in our direction, no one dared to enter the sea. Of all the vacationers, only one person dared to swim to us, as they later learned from Bulgaria, who risked helping us from inevitable death. At the same time, he helped and indicated in which direction to swim. When we had already swam to the shore, the Thai with a piece of foam plastic also swam in our direction. Slowly, on our last breath and exhausted, we reached the shore. The wife of our savior, who was standing on the shore, was all in tears, apparently she was also very worried about her husband, who sailed to us. It is a pity that they did not know his name, they only thanked him for saving him, there was no strength at all, and for this it is worth being grateful for life. If they knew about the reverse flows and how to get out of nicknames, this would not have happened. after such an incident, we do not go into the sea with waves in general, even at Russian resorts. By the way, now I began to notice the reverse flow on Black Sea resort and in Crimea, even if big waves».

You can watch the video on rescuing people on the beach. https://youtu.be/W8-EmKkq1Is

There are several simple rules of behavior that must be remembered and always followed if you are carried out to sea:

1. Don't panic! Everyone knows that panic is the main enemy in an emergency. However, not everyone continues to remember this when something happens. When a person is panicked, instead of soberly assessing the situation and making the right decision, he relies on his instincts and most often does the wrong thing.

2. Save your energy! No need to fight the current and swim back to the shore, it is useless. Most likely, you will not have enough strength to overcome the current. Relax and calmly swim not straight to the coast, but to the side, that is, parallel to the coast.

3. Do not swim in the ocean or sea alone in the presence of waves and in the places indicated by the red flags! Try to swim on busy beaches, preferably where there is a lifeguard service and people are still present.

The reverse flow is formed on the surface, and there are no vortexes or eddies. The water in the canal will carry you from the coast along the surface, but will not drag you to the depth in any way. As a rule, its width does not exceed 50 meters, most often it is 10-20 meters. That is, having swum along the coast for quite a bit, you should feel that you have swum out of the channel. The current weakens rather quickly, the channel ends its action where the waves reach their peak and begin to break. The reverse flow even differs in color from the rest of the ocean water. This color is produced by the sand raised by the wave from the coastal shallow, carried out into the ocean. The fact that the sand is visible from above is proved by the fact that the reverse flow is formed only at the surface.

If you saw something like the one in the photo, you're in luck, just don't swim in the area. However, 80% of dangerous channels that arise spontaneously do not visually manifest themselves in any way. Professional rescuers can sometimes identify these places, but tourists are unlikely. On the beaches, in most cases, flags are placed, which can change their position during the day. The color of flags is accepted all over the world and is easy to remember, but as a rule, little attention is paid to them:

A red and yellow flag means that there are lifeguards on the beach and it is safe to swim between these flags.

A red flag means that swimming in this area is strictly prohibited.

When in doubt, throw a bunch of seaweed or driftwood from the beach to the surface. If there is a reverse current, it will quickly carry your projectile out to sea.

In Thailand, for example, there are 1-2 cases of people drowning from the reverse flow every year. Safe place rest in Thailand is better to choose according to the reviews of tourists and choose beaches where there is no reverse flow or is rare, especially when vacationing with children. You can find out more about and its beaches on,,, on the pages of this site and your vacation will be safe.

At Russian resorts during a storm or significant sea waves, the opposite current also occurs: on the Black Sea coast in all resorts Krasnodar Territory, in the Crimea, Abkhazia. But they are much smaller and weaker relative to the ocean coast. Even where there are breakwaters, it doesn't matter when big waves are not even worth entering the water. There are many cases when the reverse flow is on Black sea coast carried people into the open sea during a storm or large waves. It makes no sense to indicate in which cities and in which resorts there were reverse currents, they appear almost everywhere, but we do not always see them.

According to the stories of numerous vacationers, they personally saw reverse currents during a small storm in cities: Crimea - Evpatoria, Feodosia, on the Black Sea coast - Lazarevskoe, Lermontovo, Divnomorskoe and this does not mean that there are reverse currents, they can be everywhere ... On Russian equipped beaches (at hotels, boarding houses, sanatoriums) during storms and big waves, the administration always closes them and you can see signs with the words "Beach is closed, storm". This can often be seen in the Crimea.

There is almost never a reverse flow on the beaches and other islands of Greece, as well as in Cyprus, Turkish resorts in view of the almost always calm sea.

The reverse flow is most often found in resorts, but mainly during storms or large waves.

On the beaches, the reverse current also occurs during storms and during large waves, but the structure of the coastal bottom of the beaches does not allow swimming in waves, which may be why Vietnam is not famous for the reverse current. But be careful anyway, the reverse flow can occur everywhere in the presence of waves.

Making a conclusion, it can be argued that the most dangerous beaches with a reverse flow in the presence of waves is: in Thailand - Karon beach, in India - Goa beaches... Some people can refute this, saying that we often rested there and did not see anything like it. It's great that I didn't get into this dangerous channel. And don't get there, don't, but be careful and watch the red flags on the shore.

If you know what it is reverse flow and how to get out of it, then you will protect yourself and your friends going to beach vacation... Warn them about this danger before the trip and everyone will return safe and sound.. ​

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