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In case you missed it, last week a man from New York wrote to a local newspaper (1) in Costa Rica about how he and his girlfriend “were caught in a riptide and swept out to sea. We managed to hold hands in the turbulent currents while being dragged far out to deep waters. We lost all hope of survival.”
The next sentence of the letter explains one reason why it went wrong:
“Eileen did not know how to swim, and I was totally exhausted from keeping her afloat. We both knew that death was certain.”
Thankfully this young couple survived thanks to:
“… two surfers and an off-duty lifeguard, who risked their lives to save us, total strangers. They swam like dolphins, and with unbelievable knowledge of the currents were able to save us.”
I’m certainly delighted this couple are alive and well and maybe I’m thinking too much but doesn’t it strike you as being somewhat insane to venture into the pacific ocean with someone who “did not know how to swim?”
Would love to hear your opinion?
(1) ticotimes.net/Opinion/Letters-to-the-Editor/Couple-wants-to-thank-good-samaritans
Scott – We have a lot of drownings at our beach (10 min south of Esterillos Oeste). I can say that many people go in at what they consider a safe distance, say waist high, not understanding the severity of the rip currents.
My son was standing in literally knee deep water & a huge wall of white water knocked him over & sucked him out. I barely got us both out of the rip current. I grew up in FL at the beach so I was prepared.
I’m also in my 30s & in pretty good shape. We’ve had several who drowned who were in their 60s, not in great shape, just taking a “dip” after their afternoon cerveza.
Two of those times, the waves were minimal size but the rips were horrible. I think a lot of people mistake safety for when the waves are small, not knowing how to pick out a rip tide visually from shore.
Jessica
Scott, pretty harsh words.
I am not a good swimmer and stood in hardly in any water … probably up to my mid shins… in Cancun, and had a similar experience to what [b]jreeves[/b] above, reported. Luckily, there was lifeguards on duty.[quote=”costaricafinca”]Scott, pretty harsh words.[/quote]
I’m a little confused, what words were harsh exactly?
Thank you for posting the article about rip tides. The May 2011 drownings were at my beach. We lost 4 people during Semana Santa 2011 as well. My friends/neighbors were involved in trying to help save some of these & were left totally distraught in the aftermath. I hope everyone takes the time to educate themselves about rip currents & what to do to get out of them!!!!
Jessica
Scott, you posted [i]”..but doesn’t it strike you as being somewhat insane to venture into the pacific ocean with someone who “did not know how to swim?”[/i] and for a non-swimmer to go out further than they should, they are definitely taking a chance, but many tourists come here to at least ‘paddle’ in the surf.
As a preschooler, my father and I used to go to Atlantic City, NJ (a very different place in the early 1950s) in the summer to visit his parents. While there, we always went to the beach. Neither of us could swim, but we always went out into the waves to bob around. “Foolhardy”? “Insane”? Arguably, yes to both, but who knew? It might be said that my father wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he wasn’t a complete idiot either.
Many of the folks who come to Costa Rica’s coasts, likewise, don’t have a firsthand knowledge of what they may be getting into and, until they’re in over their heads (literally) they have no basis for appreciating the risks. Nor do most of them have the background to either recognize a rip current when they see it (do you?) or to react rationally. I’ll bet that most WLCR.com VIP Members can’t even define just what a rip current is or how it’s created. Sadly, putting up warning signs simply doesn’t answer all the questions.
We had this same problem on the beaches of North Carolina’s Outer Banks where we lived before coming to Costa Rica. Plenty of rip currents. Lots of warnings. And a few drownings every year.
If you put enough people into enough water, odds are somebody’s going to get into trouble.
[quote=”DavidCMurray”]As a preschooler, my father and I used to go to Atlantic City, NJ (a very different place in the early 1950s) in the summer to visit his parents. While there, we always went to the beach. Neither of us could swim, but we always went out into the waves to bob around. “Foolhardy”? “Insane”? Arguably, yes to both, but who knew? It might be said that my father wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he wasn’t a complete idiot either.
Many of the folks who come to Costa Rica’s coasts, likewise, don’t have a firsthand knowledge of what they may be getting into and, until they’re in over their heads (literally) they have no basis for appreciating the risks. Nor do most of them have the background to either recognize a rip current when they see it (do you?) or to react rationally. I’ll bet that most WLCR.com VIP Members can’t even define just what a rip current is or how it’s created. Sadly, putting up warning signs simply doesn’t answer all the questions.
We had this same problem on the beaches of North Carolina’s Outer Banks where we lived before coming to Costa Rica. Plenty of rip currents. Lots of warnings. And a few drownings every y
If you put enough people into enough water, odds are somebody’s going to get into trouble.[/quote]
I have no idea at all as how to recognize a Rip Current
[quote=”Versatile”]I have no idea at all as how to recognize a Rip Current[/quote]
. . . and that’s my point.
[quote=”DavidCMurray”][quote=”Versatile”]I have no idea at all as how to recognize a Rip Current[/quote]
. . . and that’s my point.[/quote]
I have never seen one in Missouri.
[quote=”Versatile”]I have never seen one in Missouri.[/quote]
No, it’s not likely you would. The Mississippi flows too slowly to create rip currents even among its many sandbars. You’ve probably seen eddies, however, so you’re not forgotten.
Come to Costa Rica, though, and you’ll have many opportunities to fill in the gaps in your experience.
[quote=”DavidCMurray”][quote=”Versatile”]I have never seen one in Missouri.[/quote]
No, it’s not likely you would. The Mississippi flows too slowly to create rip currents even among its many sandbars. You’ve probably seen eddies, however, so you’re not forgotten.
Come to Costa Rica, though, and you’ll have many opportunities to fill in the gaps in your experience.[/quote]
I have been to the beach at Manuel Antonio, Tambor and Montezuma. I live on the west side of Mo. in Kansas City. I have gone over mean looking whirlpools on the Mo. river in our houseboat. A friend went over one and his fish finder said 160ft deep.
Well, if you’ve been to any three ocean beaches, the odds are good that you’ve been in the vicinity of a rip current. Something that folks don’t appreciate is that these things change over time. What was calm water yesterday can be dangerous today and calm again tomorrow.
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