Rip Currents Explained: How to Spot & Escape Them

Rip currents are the leading surf hazard at U.S. beaches. The United States Lifesaving Association estimates they cause more than 100 drowning deaths a year, and lifeguards rescue tens of thousands of swimmers from them. They're especially dangerous because they often happen on beautiful days: sunny skies and a breezy onshore wind can bring dangerous rips with no storm in sight. A minute of knowledge about how they work is one of the most valuable things a beachgoer can have.

What a rip current is

Waves breaking on a beach push water toward the shore. That water has to flow back out to sea somehow, and it tends to return through narrow channels: gaps in a sandbar, low spots along the beach, or next to piers and jetties. The result is a rip current, a narrow, fast-moving channel of water flowing away from the shore, typically 50 to 100 feet wide, though some are wider.

Rip currents usually move at one to two feet per second, about walking speed, but can reach eight feet per second, faster than an Olympic swimmer. They extend from near the shoreline out through the surf zone and past the line of breaking waves, where they spread out and weaken.

A rip current is not an "undertow" or "rip tide," and it doesn't pull people under the water. It pulls people away from shore. Drownings happen when swimmers exhaust themselves trying to swim straight back against the current, or panic.

How to spot one

Rips can be hard to see, especially from beach level, but look for:

• A gap in the line of breaking waves, where waves aren't breaking as much as on either side
• A channel of darker, deeper-looking water
• An area of choppy, churning water different from the water around it
• Foam, seaweed, or debris moving steadily seaward
• Discolored, sandy water extending beyond the breakers

The calm-looking gap between breaking waves is exactly where a rip often is, and it can look like the safest place to swim. Getting a higher view, from a dune walkover, the top of the beach, or a pier, makes rips much easier to see. Even then, many rips show no obvious signs, so the safest choice is always to swim near a lifeguard.

If you're caught in a rip current

1. Stay calm. The current will not pull you under. It will carry you away from the beach, and it weakens past the breaking waves.
2. Don't swim straight back to shore against the current. Even strong swimmers can't outswim a fast rip.
3. Escape sideways. Swim parallel to the shoreline, out of the current, then swim at an angle back toward the beach. Some rips circulate back toward shore, so if swimming sideways isn't working, float or tread water and let the current carry you.
4. If you can't escape, float and signal. Face the shore, wave your arms, and yell for help.

If you see someone else in trouble, get help from a lifeguard. If there's no lifeguard, call 911, and throw the person something that floats, such as a life jacket, cooler, or boogie board, while yelling instructions to swim parallel to the shore. Many people die each year trying to rescue someone else from a rip current. Don't go in after them unless you have training and flotation.

When rip currents are most likely

• Onshore winds and building surf. Stronger wind blowing toward the beach means bigger waves and more water piled against the shore, which has to flow back out.
• Distant storms. A hurricane hundreds of miles offshore can send long-period swells to beaches under clear skies, creating dangerous rip currents days before or without the storm ever arriving. Many rip current deaths happen on sunny days for this reason.
• Low tide at some beaches, when water is funneled through gaps in sandbars more strongly.
• Near structures such as piers, jetties, and groins, where fixed rip currents can form along the structure.

Rip current risk forecasts

Coastal National Weather Service offices issue a daily surf zone forecast with a rip current risk:

• Low risk: rip currents are still possible, especially near piers, jetties, and groins. Swim near a lifeguard.
• Moderate risk: life-threatening rip currents are possible in the surf zone. Only experienced swimmers should enter the water, and only near a lifeguard.
• High risk: life-threatening rip currents are likely. Stay out of the water.

When the risk is high, the local office issues a Rip Current Statement or a Beach Hazards Statement. These appear among the alerts on the RadarBug map, so a quick check of the NWS alerts layer before a beach day will show whether one is in effect for the coast you're visiting.

Beach warning flags

Many beaches fly warning flags to show current conditions. Florida uses a uniform statewide system, and many other beaches use similar colors:

Flag meanings can vary from one beach to the next, so check the sign at the beach entrance. A missing flag doesn't mean conditions are safe; it may simply mean no lifeguard is on duty.

Beach safety basics

• Swim near a lifeguard. The chance of drowning at a beach with lifeguards is a small fraction of the chance at one without.
• Never swim alone, and keep children within arm's reach in the water.
• Check the rip current risk and beach flags before going in.
• Don't rely on inflatable toys or rafts as safety devices.
• Get out of the water at the first rumble of thunder; beaches are among the most dangerous places to be in a lightning storm. See Lightning Safety Explained.
• On the Gulf coast, check for red tide before your trip. See Red Tide Explained.