July 2014 (ROTM#67) Patong Beach, Phuket, Thailand

Not too long ago, I posted a picture of rip currents at neighbouring Karon Beach. However, I recently visited some Phuket beaches myself during the monsoon season and was amazed to see beaches and surf conditions that, to me, looked just like south-east Australian conditions. Lots of waves, bars and rips. Despite the efforts and presence of lifeguards on many beaches, a lot of people drown in rip currents each year in Phuket, most of them  tourists.

In general the rips are about 150 to 200 m apart on the surf beaches and sit in channels. They therefore appear as dark gaps between the whitewater, but are a little different than what we have in SE Australia for several reasons. The sand is so fine-grained that the relief of the channels isn't as pronounced so the 'dark gap' visual signature can be a little tougher to identify. On the flip side, the fine sand ends up being transported offshore by the rip into sediment clouds which actually help spot the rips.

I took this picture from my hotel balcony at Patong Beach (I asked for a high room just for this reason!). The rip is the small dark gap just to the left of the tree (and in front of the two parked cars). You can see the clouds of sand being taken offshore. It's subtle, but definitely a rip. All of the rips really started to take off around low tide. So if you go to beaches in Phuket....please take care. There are waves, and rips, but there are also good lifeguards. Swim between the red and yellow flags.

High rise hotel rooms help you spot rips