May 2011 (ROTM#29) China Beach, Vietnam

The 2011 World Conference on Drowning Prevention is being held in Danang, Vietnam from May 10-13th. Danang is home to China Beach, made famous as an R&R destination during the Vietnam War and is a stunning stretch of sandy beach that extends right down to the beautiful town of Hoi An, about 30 minutes south. If you visit between April and October, the ocean is a mill pond. November to March is a completely different story as this is the monsoon season when you can actually get some decent surf, typhoons...and rips currents. 

 This picture from Google Earth is from a stretch of beach several kilometres south of China Beach. You can clearly see 4 fixed rip currents spaced about 150 m apart. You can tell the rips have been in the same place for a while from the embayments they've carved into the beach. Just a reminder that fixed rips, which look like dark gaps between breaking waves, are the most common type of rip and can occur anywhere. Very little information exists about rip drownings in Vietnam, but they do occur.

 P.S. I rode from Hoi An to Danang 5 years ago and the beach was pristine. Nothing there, but local fisherman. It was magic. Word has it that resorts have now been developed along the entire stretch of coast. I'm really hoping to find that's not the case.

Vietnam beaches looking much like Australian ones