Rip Current
Also known as: Riptide, Rip
A rip current is a narrow, fast-moving channel of water that flows from the shore back out to sea, carrying sand, foam, and anything else caught in it. Rips form wherever water piled up on the beach by breaking waves finds a path back out — usually through a gap in the sandbar. Experienced surfers use rips to paddle out quickly without fighting through the whitewater, riding the current like a conveyor belt out past the break. For swimmers and beginners, rip currents are dangerous: they pull you away from shore fast, and panicking and swimming against them is how people drown. The right response is to swim parallel to the beach until you're out of the current, then back to shore.