December 2011 (ROTM#36) Bateau Bay Beach, Central Coast, NSW, Australia

We’re starting a week long rip current experiment at Shelly Beach, NSW next week which is just north of Bateau Bay on the NSW Central Coast. I looked up the Google Earth image and couldn’t help but notice this monstrous rip in the middle of Bateau Bay.

The image was taken during pretty big wave conditions and hopefully you can see the rip as the highway of blue that is funnelling out from the middle of the beach. The rip is 50 metres wide and at least 250 m long. That folks, is what we call a mega rip. Bateau Bay doesn’t have lifeguards and is a narrow pocket beach with lots of rocks that promote rip current activity.

Not surprisingly, there have been numerous rip current drownings at this beach over the years. Please be careful this summer folks and try and swim between the red and yellow flags on patrolled beaches.

There is nowhere safe to swim under these conditions