Dr. Beach's Survival Guide: What You Need to Know About Sharks, Rip Currents, and More Before Going in the Water

Which U.S. beach records the most shark attacks each year?
Which species of shark is the most dangerous to people?
Why are rip currents the most deadly beach threat?
How can rips be avoided?
What should you do if caught in a rip?
Can lightning strikes at the beach be predicted?
Is a stingray dangerous?
When is ocean water pollution likely to be worst?
What types of waves are threatening and how can they be detected?

What is the danger of a red tide?
How can swimmers avoid contact with jellyfish?

Having been at the beach many times and body-surfed some pretty big waves occasionally, I've had a few harrowing experiences myself. I once had the experience of being in an undertoe that actually pulled me underneath the water, but only for about 5 seconds. It was still a little scary. One time I stupidly tried to ride an 18-foot wave and almost got killed because the wave was what the Aussies call "a dumper" and it smashed me on the bottom. You should avoid fast-breaking dumpers because of that. I think the biggest wave that's safe to ride for most people is probably about 10 feet, unless you've got a belly board, which can outrun the break. Wearing one swim fin (yes, only one is needed, because it's inconvenient to have two fins on) is a trick experienced body-surfers use, that's also helpful for catching waves. Back in the 60's, I saw TV footage of this crazy guy belly-boarding 30-foot waves at Waimea. Talk about guts.

The beach that's the king of the riptides is Sunset Beach in Hawaii. Many people have died there because of rips, and it's capable of pulling you under, too. Once it pulled 3 surfers under at the same time, who unfortunately drowned. One thing to remember is if you "wipe out," be sure to tuck and roll up into a ball. One thing that happens to tourists and neophytes at Sunset is that when they go "over the falls," they don't tuck and then get slammed face first into the bottom, breaking their necks. This happened recently to a young couple that was on their honeymoon, and it's happened a number of times to inexperienced swimmers and body-surfers before. So be careful about that.

Speaking of getting pulled under, I once had the idea for a little invention, a small oxygen cylinder that would weigh maybe 5 or 10 pounds max but that would contain enough air to allow you to breath for a few minutes, if you were going swimming or body- surfing, especially at a potentially dangerous beach like Sunset. Not sure if it would be practical, but I never did follow up on it to find out. But there were a number of times when I wiped out on a big wave and didn't get to take a full breath before I got slammed under, and then I got held down for 20-30 seconds or so, or had to stay down that long because of other breaking waves, and I was almost out of air a couple of times before I was able to surface, and that would have been nice to have.

Another odd fact is that the reason why your feet itch after a day at the beach, at least on western U.S. beaches. It's not because of the hot sand and the salt water. It's because of the pieces of jellyfish, especially man-'o-war, that wash up on the beach, and can still irritate your feet even after days on the sand.

Well, if I haven't scared you off completely from going to the beach again, this is a great little book to learn about all the hazards and dangers. Good luck and happy beach-going!


a great book for the beach!   July 7, 2003
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

If you're a regular beach-goer like I am, this little book is a gold mine. Although not big, it's filled with interesting information about beaches, sharks, and other things that can mess up your beach vacation. While the shark section is a real eye-opener, its all the details about how beaches really work that I liked most. Who would have thought there would be so much to know about our favorite summer vacation spots? I guess if anyone would know about beaches, it's Dr. Beach! This is a great little book that's now a permanent part of my beach gear.