8 Most Dangerous Rip Current and Undertow Locations in the World

8 Most Dangerous Rip Current and Undertow Locations in the World

A relaxing day at the beach is all fine and cheery until one encounters a rip current – every year more than 100 beachgoers on average are killed due to these penetrating river-like channels of rushing water.

Don’t say you haven’t been warned: Here are The World’s Most Dangerous Rip Currents Locations & How to Avoid Them!

1. What NOT to Do

8 Most Dangerous Rip Current and Undertow Locations in the World Wrong, swimming against the current is the worst mistake a swimmer can make, as they’ll use up all their strength making zero progress.

Here, defeat sets in and the waves have won. Next— beaches to stay away from if you want to avoid the wrath of the waves.

2. Hanakapiai Beach

When even professional surfers know better than to hang 10 with the big ones, you know a beach is at high-risk. Too bad, since here this stretch of coconut-clad sand is so beautiful it belongs on the glossy cover of a travel brochure. The spectacular two-mile hike up the wind-swept hills to Hanakapiai Beach on the island of Kauai lends a lookout reminiscent of paradise.

3. Playa de Los Muertos – The Beach of the Dead

It’s gorgeous, it offers sweeping aquamarine views of the nautical North Pacific. While Playa Zipolite, Mexico, looks like a striking oasis, the waters promise strong and fatal undercurrents.

The increased popularity of this sandy retreat has implemented a special team of lifeguards to tend to those in danger— yet this sunny hotspot on the southern coast of the Oaxaca state doesn’t guarantee you’ll leave the water alive.

Related: Top 12 Best Aquarium in the World

4. Tamarama Beach

This next one is reportedly one of the most dangerous patrolled beaches in the Australian state of New South Wales. Tamarama Beach is heavily populated by Sydney-siders, a name they call those native to the Sydney area, as well as tourists who flock from all over to bask in the sweeping seascape here.

Deep waters and a narrow strip of beach work together to generate waves that challenge even the most experienced of swimmers. More rescues per 1000 bathers have occurred here over any other beach in Australia, and with swells over 6 feet high, it’s safe to say that observing the beauty of the beach from the safety of one’s towel is highly recommended. 

5. Bondi Beach

According to history, Bondi beach stands as one of the most rip prone beaches in all of Australia. In fact, a day that later came to be known as Black Sunday— in February of 1938— saw 250 people in a state of trauma before being rescued when wave after wave created a horrific rip current that drowned 5 people.

This location is also known to host a semi-permanent rip to the south of the beach known as the “backpackers express” where here, tourists are routinely faced with life-threatening situations. Despite a large number of lifeguards on duty, Bondi beach suffers from a horrific reputation of drowning fatalities.

6. Costa Del Sol

Costa Del Sol, famous for its world-renowned discotheques and umbrella-clad beaches, this gorgeous coastal abode is a highly sought-after vacation hotspot. Long sandy beaches and a sunny climate offer are the ideal holiday package, yet high winds coupled with fierce rip currents have caused several drowning.

Heavy alcohol consumption for vacationers and the ocean’s rip currents make this speck of the Mediterranean a mecca for disaster. 

 Related: 20 Rarest and Most Unusual Sea Creatures

7. Morecambe Bay

The Guardian depicts this next beach “a treacherous place”, as Morecambe Bay in Lancashire, UK, is like an obstacle course of doom in which the twists and turns can hardly be trusted.

The largest expanse of mudflats and sand in the whole of England, this estuary implores the faint of heart to stay away. The proof is in the type of equipment yielded for fishing endeavors alone.

8. Break the Grip of the Rip 

Stay relaxed so as not to run out of steam quickly; know that rip currents are not wide, so swimming parallel to the shore, or, to one side only, can break one free from the undertow;

finally, swim diagonally back to shore. There are ways to escape the powers of a rip current— all one must do is stay calm and never fight against it.

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