What does it feel like to be in a riptide?

All of a sudden, you feel as if a giant vacuum cleaner is pulling you out to sea. Riptides, or rip currents, are long, narrow bands of water that quickly pull any objects in them away from shore and out to sea. They are dangerous but are relatively easy to escape if you stay calm. Do not struggle against the current.

Which direction should you swim to swim out of a rip tide?

You want to float, and you don’t want to swim back to shore against the rip current because it will just tire you out. You want to swim out of the rip, parallel to shore, along the beach and then follow breaking waves back to shore at an angle.

What do you do at Rip Tide?

DR. GREG DUSEK: A rip current is a narrow, fast-moving channel of water that starts near the beach and extends offshore through the line of breaking waves. If you do get caught in a rip current, the best thing you can do is stay calm.

Can you spot a riptide?

Riptides,powerful as they are,tend to be narrow. Swim parallel to the shore until you break out of it.

What causes a rip current?

Rip currents have several different causes depending on the local beach conditions. In North Carolina, most rip currents are caused by waves breaking on the offshore sandbar, which forces water to pile up between the bar and the beach, higher than the ocean.

How does Riptide work?

How Rip Currents Work. They are formed by the motion of waves and tides. When a large sandbar forms, it can produce a sort of basin along the ocean shore. Waves move up against the sandbar with enough force to push water into the basin, but the receding water has a hard time making it back over the sandbar to return to sea.

How are rip currents formed?

rip current. A rip current is formed when water coming ashore is channeled back to sea through a narrow passage, such as a break in a sandbar, causing an increase in the strength of the current.