Any beach can be dangerous on any given day. People must realize that the ocean is not a swimming pool. Waves make an oceanic beach exciting, but big waves can be dangerous and also generate strong currents. Tides can also produce strong currents at constricted areas, particularly inlets between islands. Other hazards at the seacoast include stinging jellyfish and coral, but the biggest threat to beach goers is sunburn.

Sunburn tops the list of beach perils; the red lobster look is both painful and dangerous. Baking in the sun can cause considerable skin damage and eventually lead to skin cancer. Children are most at risk. Even one bad sunburn can later lead to the serious skin cancer called melanoma, which can be fatal. Fair-skinned people are especially at risk. Sunburn is a particular problem at beaches because of the strong reflection off the beach and water. Most experts recommend a sun protection factor (SPF) of 25 or more. Remember to put suntan lotion on your feet, which burn easily. The sun is much more intense in lower latitudes like Florida and Hawaii, and special care should be taken during the summer months.

Quality sunglasses should be used to protect your eyes against cataract-causing UV rays. A rating of UV 400 or 100 percent UV-A and UV-B protection should be requested. UV protection should not be confused with the darkness or tint of the glasses. Some people also like to use anti-glare Polaroid lenses. There is often significant glare, glint and reflection along the shore, and sunglasses are necessary equipment on a beach outing.

The most common type of injury at seashores is splinters from wooden boardwalks. I prefer to wear flip flops as they are easily removed and light enough to carry when walking on the beach itself. Another beach danger is lightning strikes; the largest number of people killed are either standing under a tree on a golf course or exposed on a beach. Florida is the lightning capital of the country, and this hazard is all too often ignored.

Rip currents are the biggest threat to swimmers and bathers; thousandsof people are annually sucked offshore by these powerful currents. Over 80 percent of surf rescues are because of rips. While most people are saved by lifeguards, hundreds drown every year. Rip currents, mistakenly called undertow or rip tides, are formed by water being trapped and elevated on the beach face by big breaking waves. This excess water is then funneled back offshore through breaks in the underwater bar; the current can be so strong that even an Olympian cannot successfully swim against it. Rip currents are seldom wider than about 10 yards, but can pull you hundreds or even a thousand feet offshore. Therefore, the best approach is to swim along the shore if caught in one of these rapid offshore-moving currents. Rip currents are permanent features on some high-energy beaches; elsewhere they come and go or appear at different places along the beach.

Before entering the water, you should always look for the telltale signs of rip currents and consult the lifeguards. Rips often appear murkier from the sediments they are carrying or more foamy than the surrounding water and extend offshore beyond the breaker zone. Any floating objects will move steadily offshore when caught in a rip current. Unfortunately, areas of rips may seem like the best place to enter the water on a big wave day because the offshore current is actually knocking down the incoming waves. I have talked to people who have tragically lost loved ones by having this mistaken impression of surf conditions. Most people should not even try to enter the water when the nearshore breakers top five feet in height. Southern California and Hawaii are the most dangerous beaches in terms of rip currents, but even the normally calm Gulf of Mexico can become wave stoked by a storm, and people have been drowned at Panama City Beach in Florida.

Shorebreaks occur when large waves break directly on the beach face. Steep beaches and large plunging breakers are a recipe for these dangerous conditions. Waves normally break on a sand bar with the broken wave plunging into deeper water just landward of the underwater bar before running up the beach face as swash. Anyone caught in such a breaker would be thrown into a cushion of water, rather than be picked up and pounded head first into the sand beach by a shorebreak. Some kids have learned how to body surf a shorebreak, but this activity is dangerous and even so-called experts can be injured. Broken necks, which can lead to death, are of major concern.

Beaches where shorebreaks are present should be avoided unless the waves are fairly small. Swimmers, wishing to reach the quieter waters just offshore, dive under the incoming wave just as it is breaking. Some people try to jump the shorebreak or turn their backs to it; both activities invite disaster during big surf days as the enormous energy of the wave can pound you hard into the sand. Even if nothing is broken, people are tossed and tumbled around and often swallow seawater. The backwash from these big waves can be so strong that disoriented people are then pulled into the onslaught of the next breaking wave.

Backwash is simply the return of the water from the broken wave (swash) that moves up on the beach face. All of us have enjoyed walking along the shore in the swash zone. When the waves are large and powerful, the uprush of the swash can produce a whitewater experience for board and body surfers. While some of this water seeps into the beach, a big swash uprush means a strong return flow of the backwash on a steeply inclined beachface, which can be swift and deep enough to prohibit your escape from this flow into the next breaking wave. The returning flow can knock your feet from beneath you and drag you into deeper water. Most people mistakenly think that the backwash is the mythical undertow because of the strong sucking action, but the backwash stops at the next breaking wave and does not go beyond the surf zone as a rip current does. Still the results can be life threatening during times of high surf as the waves can crash you on the beach and you can be injured by the surfbreak or drowned by taking on too much salt water.

There is an old Hawaiian saying: "Never turn your back to the sea." The Pacific Ocean beaches, especially Hawaii and the Northwest coast, are subject to "sleeper" waves or rogue waves. These single, large waves appear to come out of nowhere, and unsuspecting victims have been swept off of cliffs or crashed into rocks to certain death. Surfers know that every tenth wave or so, depending upon the beach, is the biggest wave, and they wait until the surf crescendos before taking the ride. Called "surf beat," this phenomenon is present on most beaches; the wave height is always changing. This surfer's delight can imperil swimmers or bathers who are caught unaware. Rogue or sleeper waves are actually another situation when a single big wave comes ashore. Generally they are caused by two different wave trains that are coming from different directions wherein their crests both peak at the same time. The resulting breaker can be twice as high as normal. Such waves are rare on sandy swimming beaches, but many lives have been lost on rocky coasts where deep water is close to shore.

The largest waves to strike a beach are tsunamis, which are mistakenly called "tidal waves." These walls of water that can reach 50 feet in height have nothing to do with the tides, but are instead caused by violent movements of the sea floor, usually triggered by underwater earthquakes. The geologically active Pacific coast and the Caribbean (to a lesser extent) are subject to tsunami waves. While tsunami waves cannot be spotted at sea in deep water, they bunch up as they approach shallow water to reach tremendous heights upon breaking. There are warning systems throughout the Hawaiian Islands, which have experienced a number of tsunamis.

Jellyfish are a bane to swimmers, and the Portuguese man-of-war is the worst of the lot in terms of stinging potential. These iridescent purple-colored animals have floating bubbles and long stinging tentacles, which release an acidic venom that can cause great pain, shock and, in some cases, even death. Usually, these jellyfish are blown ashore by high onshore winds, particularly during stormy conditions. The sting can be neutralized with full-strength vinegar, rubbing alcohol, diluted chlorox or plain meat tenderizer, which should be applied immediately to the wound. Victims should be kept out of the sun until the pain subsides. People with allergic reactions should be rushed to the hospital.
Other marine animals that should be dealt with cautiously include sea urchins and stingrays. Urchins are covered with sharp, needlelike spines that can penetrate deeply into your foot if stepped upon. Sea urchins are found in tropical waters, usually living upon or near coral and rocks. By contrast, stingrays sometimes come into shallow waters and lie on the sandy bottom, where they are nearly invisible. Shuffling the feet as you enter the water will scare away these shy animals, which will never attack a person.

Sharks are rarely a problem on any swimming beach, despite the general uneasiness that the movie "Jaws" has instilled in some people. Far more people have been killed by bees, bathtub falls, and lightning strikes than shark attacks. Sharks are generally a problem when the water is murky or at night when humans can be mistaken for seals or other favorite prey. In other cases, bait fish or blood in the water will naturally attract sharks. Some reported shark attacks were actually large schools of blue fish in a feeding frenzy. The most serious shark attacks have occurred in deep water when divers are exploring known shark-invested waters. People sometimes confuse shark and dolphin sightings. They can be distinguished by their swimming habit. Dolphins have a curious arcing motion, diving up and down as they swim.

Water quality concerns all swimmers, and storm-water drains on beaches should be avoided. The term "first flush" is often used to describe the effluent coming off a parking lot during the first rain in the period of a week; this is only a problem for some urban beaches. The Surfrider Foundation has been fighting such water pollution problems for years in Southern California with much success.

Red tide is a very serious water quality problem, and the appearance of an algal bloom means that everyone should vacate the beach. These toxic algae can cause massive fish kills, and shellfish are poisonous to eat when infected. The Gulf of Mexico is regularly affected by these dreaded red tides, especially during spring to early summer. While red tides are a natural phenomena dating back at least to Biblical times, some scientists believe their apparent increased frequency is due to water pollution, specifically excessive nutrients running off the land.
The nation is blessed with many great beaches, and the water quality is generally very high. Overall our beaches are much cleaner than most found elsewhere in the world, but more should be done to maintain good bathing conditions.