March 2015 (ROTM#75) Dunedin, New Zealand

New Zealand has awesome beaches...and awesome rips! In February I was lucky enough to be invited by Professor Douglas Booth to give a presentation at a New Zealand Water Safety Workshop sponsored by the School of Physical Education, Sport and Exercise Sciences at the University of Otago. I've lived in New Zealand and travelled all over, but had never been to Dunedin and was blown away by the fantastic beaches and surf along St Kilda Beach and the Otago Peninsula. Phenomenal! It was hot, sunny and the water was a balmy 14 degrees (that's as good as it gets apparently).

This picture was taken from out front of the St Kilda Beach surf life saving club. How can people not be able to spot rips? The dark gap, almost hooking out to sea, is the only thing that looks different along this stretch of beach!

Not many people drown in rip currents on this beach, largely due to the water temperature and short swimming season, but not so long ago a group of local high school students got caught in a rip and would certainly have drowned if they hadn't been rescued by nearby surfers.  The Dunedin coast and beaches are an underrated gem. Plenty of walking trails leading you to empty and unspoilt beaches where it's very tempting to swim. If you do, avoid those dark gaps and you should be fine. Remember that white is nice, green is mean and you might want to wear a wetsuit!

No-one is in the rip because the water was freezing.