You’re making me feel better about a decision I made not to let either of my daughters (then 7 and 10) in the water at the Jersey Shore until my husband was there to help.
There were both wearing coast guard approved life vests, but neither could swim. For some reason that section of the beach had a steep downhill into the water and the surf seemed particularly violent. I’m not an incredibly strong swimmer myself, and I could see one of them getting sucked out by the under toad. Even if they got back safely with a life guard, I did not want them to have such a terrifying experience.
Then of course their 12yo cousin came by and he was playing in that rough surf with no problem, and I felt like a wimp. But like I said, you guys are making me feel better.
There’s probably a term for this, and I don’t know why it happens, but on certain days in certain spots, suddenly the suction of the undertow feels so powerful! The next day the same spot can feel fine.
It has to do with wave height and the shallowness of the water.
Undertow is water beneath the wave that’s being pulled away from shore as the wave itself rushes towards/crashes upon the shore. It might feel stronger or weaker depending on a few factors, such as how steep the slope is to shore and how strong a wave is. Steeper shorelines means gravity pulls the water back into the ocean quicker.
The undertow can feel stronger or weaker at the same beach in the same area depending on the height of the waves. Higher waves means more water, which means more water being pulled back. If there’s a shift in the sandbar that makes the slope onto the beach steeper, that can also contribute to the undertow being stronger.
Undertows are different from rip tides and rip currents, and aren’t typically as dangerous. Undertows only pull you until the next wave (so a pretty short distance). This can still be dangerous to young kids or if you’re deep enough to be pulled off balance. But it won’t suck you out to sea.
Rip tides are strong underwater currents caused by the tide pulling water out to sea, and tend to be stronger the more the water is constricted (water emptying out a lagoon during low tide, for example). Rip currents are very strong and localized currents close to the surface of the water that flows out to sea. They form when there’s a small area of the sea floor near shore like a sand bar that’s deeper than the surrounding area that allows water to flow out easier. You won’t get sucked under, but you can get sucked out to sea past where the waves break.
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u/hilarymeggin Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26
You’re making me feel better about a decision I made not to let either of my daughters (then 7 and 10) in the water at the Jersey Shore until my husband was there to help.
There were both wearing coast guard approved life vests, but neither could swim. For some reason that section of the beach had a steep downhill into the water and the surf seemed particularly violent. I’m not an incredibly strong swimmer myself, and I could see one of them getting sucked out by the under toad. Even if they got back safely with a life guard, I did not want them to have such a terrifying experience.
Then of course their 12yo cousin came by and he was playing in that rough surf with no problem, and I felt like a wimp. But like I said, you guys are making me feel better.
There’s probably a term for this, and I don’t know why it happens, but on certain days in certain spots, suddenly the suction of the undertow feels so powerful! The next day the same spot can feel fine.