10 Tips for a Safe Family Beach Vacation

Many families go to the beach every year for a summer vacation. For many, a sunny day at the beach is the best summer day and a great way to spend their family vacation.

A sure way to ruin a family beach vacation, however, is to have someone get sick, or injured, or even die. Although beach vacations are great, they are not without risks.

Check out these 10 tips for a safe family beach vacation.

1. Heed local warnings

It is important for people to understand that wind generates waves. The stronger the wind, the stronger the waves. When the surf is up, it’s a sign that there are stronger currents and more frequent waves – which can be too much for the average swimmer and certainly for adventurous little kids.

But even these are not always present. Ask local lifeguards or your hotel or resort managers for their recommendations.

2. Alcohol and swimming or boating don’t mix

Nearly half of all catastrophic injuries – including drownings – involve alcohol use. Even small amounts of alcohol can impair your judgment, balance and coordination. The level of alcohol in a person’s body is higher when they don’t drink a lot of water and are exposed to the sun – three factors that lead to dehydration.

Alcohol also reduces your body’s ability Beach Vacation to stay warm, so if you fall off a boat into cold water, you may have difficulty maintaining your body heat long enough for you to swim to safety or be rescued.

Note: Injuries sustained while over the local legal blood alcohol limit are not covered by travel insurance plans, so it is important to stay below the limit.

3. Find out about wave conditions – rip currents and shore breakers

It’s a good idea to ask the local lifeguard about the wave conditions at the beach before going too far. Rip currents account for more than 80% of rescues performed by beach lifeguards. These are powerful, channeled currents of water that flow away from shore and can quickly pull even very strong swimmers far out to sea. Rip currents generally extend from the shoreline through the surf zone and beyond the breaking wave line.

Shorebreaks are identified by this beautiful condition when waves crash onto the shore spraying water, foam and sand, but they can also be deadly. Serious neck and spine injuries resulting from shorebreaks have seriously injured both inexperienced and experienced swimmers and surfers. Shorebreaks can occur in both low and high waves.

4. Real drowning doesn’t look like it does on TV

Drowning is the second leading cause of accidental death among children (just behind car accidents). Of the approximately 750 children who will die each year, more than half of them will do so within 25 meters of an adult. In an article in the Coast Guard’s On Scene magazine, it is explained that drowning is very different from what television and movies teach us.

Drowning people cannot ask for help – they naturally try to keep their mouths above water and flailing their arms would allow them to sink.

Drowning people alternately sink underwater and reappear, but they are not above water long enough to fully inhale or scream.

5. Enter when you see lightning

When a storm arrives, beaches often close, but if you are traveling to an area with little beach supervision or maintenance, you may not be called and told to enter. Beach lightning is extremely common and is the third deadliest threat to beachgoers and swimmers each year.

6. No diving until you know the depth

Never dive headfirst into water – even if you know its depth, as underwater conditions (such as falling rocks) may have changed since your last visit. Two-thirds of all catastrophic neck injuries occur in open water areas, not swimming pools. Sand underwater isn’t soft and forgiving either – it’s hard from the pressure of the water.

Always go feet first until you can determine the depth and underwater conditions if you must dive, but feet first remains the only safe way for you and children to enter the water.

7. Look but don’t touch

On the beach and underwater, there is plenty of marine life to observe as you swim, snorkel, and even dive. Some marine life washes up on the beach, and when this happens, it’s not a good idea to get too close or touch it. After all, you might hurt the creature or it might hurt you. Don’t let curiosity get the best of you or the children – look but don’t touch.