The beach is a great place to spend your holidays and there are so many beautiful beaches all around the world, especially in Southeast Asia. Nothing beats a day on the beach but if you are not careful, your blissful trip can quickly turn for the worse. Here are a few tips on how you can stay safe when you are on your beach trip.
Learn How to Swim or Teach Others
Not everyone that goes to the beach will know how to swim so it is best to learn how to swim before your beach trip. You can just choose to stay on the sand if you cannot swim but where is the fun in that? Learning how to swim will provide more assurance when you are at the beach because you will know what to do if you get caught in a tall tide.
Another thing to make sure is that other people in your company or party know how to swim as well, especially younger children. If you already know how to swim, you can give a lesson or two, just so that everyone knows the basics of swimming and how to stay safe when in the ocean. You should also know not to swim too far into the ocean or swim on your own. Try to stay close to the beach or other people in the case that something might happen to you while you are swimming.
Learn About Basic Swimming Safety
Sometimes even the best swimmers do not understand basic beach safety so it is also good to learn and understand what you should and should not do when swimming, especially on the ocean. The first thing is to never swim in the ocean when the beach is closed. There are many reasons why the beach will be closed but one reason is that the lifeguards deem the water or weather conditions to be unsafe. If you go against this rule, you run the risk of putting yourself in a dangerous situation, with no lifeguard to save you.
Another basic swimming safety rule is to not swim after heavy rain because the ocean has been polluted by storm runoff, making it hard to see when you are in the water. However, you can still stay on the shore that is closest to the sand, where the water is not too deep. When the water is safe to swim in, you must not swim with your back turned to the ocean because you can never tell when a large wave is fast approaching.
Learn and Follow the Rules of the Beach
Like all other public spaces, the beach has its own set of rules, so it is important for everyone that visits it to learn and follow the rules that are set in place. You can probably find an information board that has all the rules or a few signboards with symbols that are used to communicate the rules. You can also ask the lifeguards on duty about the rules of the beach. Just follow their directions and you will be good to go.
Most beaches share very basic rules like maintaining public decency, no littering, and no barbeque, but some beaches have specific rules so do not just assume that all beaches will have the same rules. There are also new rules that have been set in place recently, due to the coronavirus so try to stay updated with the rules.
Stay Hydrated
It is important to stay hydrated, and even more important when you are at the beach. Chances are, you will be sitting under the hot sun and sweating a lot when you are at the beach so drinking water will help to prevent us from overheating and dehydration. It is also important to stay hydrated throughout your beach trip, rather than just waiting until you get a sign of dehydration so drink your water once every hour or so. More often you drink, the better.
To stay hydrated, just pack a few bottles of water in your bag when you are preparing for your beach trip, or you can also choose from other drinks besides water. Some drinks like electrolyte-rich water and sports drinks are made specially to fight dehydration so if you want something with more flavour, you can choose from that instead. You can also try coconut water or watermelon if you want a natural option.
Protect Your Skin with Sunscreen
If you do not already put sunscreen on your skin daily, you should start doing so from now on. It is very important to protect your skin from the UV rays of the sun because this will prevent sunburns as well as skin cancer. Sun protection is also important if you do not want to get dark spots and wrinkles on your face and body.
There are so many sunscreens available on the market but for beach trips, it is advised for you to use a reef-safe sunscreen because that will help protect the coral reefs in the ocean from damage. However, even with sunscreen, there is a chance of your skin getting heated so in the case of a sunburn, rinse yourself with cold water or apply something cooling and soothing like an aloe vera gel or a cold compress.
