Something very similar happened to me here in Ireland. I had to control my breathing in very rough cold water, by laying on my back and looking at the sky until i could regulate my breathing. I then like you conserved energy by floating and very slowly swimming to an island. It saved my life without a doubt.
@@NatureTrips The conditions dramatically changed and I was half way around a 3 mile long Island, with deep water. The waves smashed me until my body basically shutdown from exhaustion and I went under water. It was very close call. But staying calm, floating for awhile and slowly swimming onto the island kept me in one piece
Same thing happened to me with the addition of increased chop dropping water into my snorkel. Don’t use a cheap snorkel.. get one with a water stop on top.
@dogstar84 im literally editing a video about a snorkeling adventure i had last week, in a choppy sea, and my snorkel didn’t have the water stop and i drunk lots of water. I have got it from a frediver and i don’t know why but free diving people have this snorkels super basic models
In Australia, we're taught from a very young age that if you're in a rip (current) that is heading from the beach and out to sea, swim parallel to the beach ie. Not toward the beach, or away from the beach, but to the side. The current is only so wide, so you want to exit out of the side of it. This way you can get out of the rip before its taken you to the end of the rip (and your swim back won't be quite as long). I have a story where this wasn't possible though. It was a cove where big natural boulders were a natural barrier between the beach and the open ocean, with only a few gaps. These gaps act like plugholes though and as I was snorkelling near one I realised the water was being sucked out through the gap to the open ocean. The boulders were so big that if I was sucked out, the people on the beach wouldn't have seen me on the other side. I couldnt completely swim out the side of the rip because there were boulders randomly through the water. Thankfully I had flippers on and just kicked my legs as hard and fast as I could toward the beach, and managed to beat the current. If I wasnt wearing flippers (eg. If I was just swimming) then I would have been sucked out a small gap in the rocks to the open ocean. So my flippers saved me for sure. If you can, combine both methods; always wear flippers, and swim calmly parallel to the beach (or out of the side of the current). Also avoid going anywhere near plugholes between rocks!
Wow What a story. Experience I never faced something similar. And you guys in Australia have a much better understanding gig The water compare to us. Mind you. I’m Brazilian but from a big city. Not that close to the sea
@NatureTrips yes but what you say is true - staying calm and logical is very important for anything that goes wrong when snorkelling. I sometimes get disoriented about my location, or tired, or have had issues with cheap snorkels getting a leak. I just float on my back to have a bit of a break and a breather. Rips can be a good thing sometimes. Your Brazilian surfers like our Australian surfers use the rip to get to the back of the waves quickly. It's like a conveyer belt 😂 They sit on the beach watching how the water moves before they go in, which is something we should all do. And if you ever come to Australia to snorkel, visit Coral Bay (Western Australia). It has a current that runs PARALLEL to the beach 😃👌 You enter at one end of the beach, and then just float over all the coral and fish (you don't even need to kick your feet at all!), and you finish at the other end of the beach. It doesn't drag you out to sea at all, just to a safe shallow area where kids swim. So not all rips/currents are dangerous. Stay calm, stay logical. Happy snorkelling! 🤿
Thanks for sharing mate - really insightful. Ill be taking me girlfriend on her first snorkeling experience soon and this has reminded me to spend the first few sessions just practicing the dead mans float. You know, at the end of the day it doesnt matter whether there was a tide pushing you out or not, all that matters is that you identified the panic, separated yourself from it and tamed it. Well done.
Exactly that mate. To distance yourself from the panic is HUGE. I’m glad for You and you gf. I hope you two have fun and she falls in love with snorkeling ❤️
Rip currents on a beach, where current goes out to sea, are always surrounded on either side by larger bodies of water slowly going in. The easy way out is always parallel to the shore.
Something very similar happened to me here in Ireland. I had to control my breathing in very rough cold water, by laying on my back and looking at the sky until i could regulate my breathing. I then like you conserved energy by floating and very slowly swimming to an island. It saved my life without a doubt.
Jeez man…what caused you to feel the “panic” in the first place, was it the current as well??
@@NatureTrips The conditions dramatically changed and I was half way around a 3 mile long Island, with deep water. The waves smashed me until my body basically shutdown from exhaustion and I went under water. It was very close call. But staying calm, floating for awhile and slowly swimming onto the island kept me in one piece
Same thing happened to me with the addition of increased chop dropping water into my snorkel. Don’t use a cheap snorkel.. get one with a water stop on top.
@dogstar84 im literally editing a video about a snorkeling adventure i had last week, in a choppy sea, and my snorkel didn’t have the water stop and i drunk lots of water. I have got it from a frediver and i don’t know why but free diving people have this snorkels super basic models
Learn how to look up at the sky to clear a snorkel
In Australia, we're taught from a very young age that if you're in a rip (current) that is heading from the beach and out to sea, swim parallel to the beach ie. Not toward the beach, or away from the beach, but to the side. The current is only so wide, so you want to exit out of the side of it.
This way you can get out of the rip before its taken you to the end of the rip (and your swim back won't be quite as long).
I have a story where this wasn't possible though. It was a cove where big natural boulders were a natural barrier between the beach and the open ocean, with only a few gaps. These gaps act like plugholes though and as I was snorkelling near one I realised the water was being sucked out through the gap to the open ocean. The boulders were so big that if I was sucked out, the people on the beach wouldn't have seen me on the other side.
I couldnt completely swim out the side of the rip because there were boulders randomly through the water.
Thankfully I had flippers on and just kicked my legs as hard and fast as I could toward the beach, and managed to beat the current. If I wasnt wearing flippers (eg. If I was just swimming) then I would have been sucked out a small gap in the rocks to the open ocean. So my flippers saved me for sure.
If you can, combine both methods; always wear flippers, and swim calmly parallel to the beach (or out of the side of the current). Also avoid going anywhere near plugholes between rocks!
Wow
What a story. Experience
I never faced something similar. And you guys in Australia have a much better understanding gig The water compare to us. Mind you. I’m Brazilian but from a big city. Not that close to the sea
@NatureTrips yes but what you say is true - staying calm and logical is very important for anything that goes wrong when snorkelling. I sometimes get disoriented about my location, or tired, or have had issues with cheap snorkels getting a leak. I just float on my back to have a bit of a break and a breather.
Rips can be a good thing sometimes. Your Brazilian surfers like our Australian surfers use the rip to get to the back of the waves quickly. It's like a conveyer belt 😂 They sit on the beach watching how the water moves before they go in, which is something we should all do.
And if you ever come to Australia to snorkel, visit Coral Bay (Western Australia). It has a current that runs PARALLEL to the beach 😃👌 You enter at one end of the beach, and then just float over all the coral and fish (you don't even need to kick your feet at all!), and you finish at the other end of the beach. It doesn't drag you out to sea at all, just to a safe shallow area where kids swim. So not all rips/currents are dangerous.
Stay calm, stay logical.
Happy snorkelling! 🤿
Thanks for sharing mate - really insightful. Ill be taking me girlfriend on her first snorkeling experience soon and this has reminded me to spend the first few sessions just practicing the dead mans float. You know, at the end of the day it doesnt matter whether there was a tide pushing you out or not, all that matters is that you identified the panic, separated yourself from it and tamed it. Well done.
Exactly that mate. To distance yourself from the panic is HUGE. I’m glad for
You and you gf. I hope you two have fun and she falls in love with snorkeling ❤️
@NatureTrips thanks brother! Happy times under the sea!
Panic will kill you. Swim parallel to the shoreline and eventually you will get out of the current.
You are the second person that is telling me that. Have you had a bad experience as well?
Rip currents on a beach, where current goes out to sea, are always surrounded on either side by larger bodies of water slowly going in. The easy way out is always parallel to the shore.
Playing dead is a good idea until a shark is trying a test bite on you. Slight energy saving movements I would recommend.
Haha yummy
Then it’s not playing anymore
good.