Riptide – General Travel Questions Dominican Republic – Debbie's Carribean Reviews Forums

transman 2008-01-06 18:51:35 UTC #1

Hi All. With the recent news of a swimmer being pulled out to sea by a riptide, I’m wondering if this is a problem to consider when choosing a site to go to this Spring. We had pretty much made the decision, although not booked the trip yet, to head to the Punta Cana area. However with this recent tragedy, my wife now has concerns about going to this area. Do you have any experience with “riptides” in this area? Does the whole of Punta Cana have this problem, or only the area where this tragedy happened. Thanks

transman

ps. feel free to email me at home if you wish.

gshorte@telus.net

bobfromcanada 2008-01-06 19:57:00 UTC #2

The safe swimming areas are marked by buoys, but people continue to venture beyond the buoyed area (at their own risk). If the wind and waves are bad, they’ll close the beach. Again, this warning is often ignored. :

transman 2008-01-06 23:55:50 UTC #3

Thanks for the reply BobfromCanada.
As a newbie heading down there, I always like to ask questions, dumb or otherwise. Now, all we’ve got to figure out is what resort? Any of the beaches down in Punta Cana better than the others? We like to a fair amount of snorkeling, and have been to some of the Islands, where the snorkeling was great right off the beach at the resort. Any suggestions?

Thanks
transman

bobfromcanada 2008-01-07 00:05:28 UTC #4

IMHO, snorkeling off the beach isn’t great anywhere in Punta Cana. You would be better off to take one of the tours that goes to the south coast. Not a great drive from PC, say an hour and a half each way.

hlywud 2008-01-07 05:01:10 UTC #5

The Punta Cana strip, the further south the better the beaches and calmer waters.

lbelle 2008-01-07 06:47:04 UTC #6

So how are the waters at the Palladium complex? ???

This sort of stuff scares the bejeezus out of me!!! 😮

iamnancy 2008-01-07 12:17:45 UTC #7

If the wind and waves are bad, they’ll close the beach. Again, this warning is often ignored. :

We saw the red flag a few times over our various vacations but until I read these type of threads I honestly didn’t know what the red flag meant…I thought it had something to do with boats… or divers… We probably looked like we were ignoring a warning as we still went in the water and I guess it was just dumb luck we never had any problems.

bobfromcanada 2008-01-07 12:24:57 UTC #8

It’s kind of confusing. The red flag can mean one of two things. Either it means there isn’t any water sports equipment available or the beach is closed due to wave action. Again, it’s a common sense decision (wave action) but you are not likely to run into any riptides in the buoyed area. What the waves can do to you is another matter. There’s a lot of power in them …

vdp 2008-01-07 12:32:04 UTC #9

The Punta Cana strip, the further south the better the beaches and calmer waters.

When you say better beaches more to the south, can you describe a bit more as to what makes them better? Thanks

VdP

bobfromcanada 2008-01-07 12:38:49 UTC #10

In general, the sand is a little whiter and they are a bit calmer. If you want to play in the waves …
There aren’t any bad beaches at any of the hotels, but some are better than others. For example, some have more shade available. Depending on what kind of a ‘sun bum’ you are, this can be a good or a bad thing.

remote 2008-01-07 13:16:24 UTC #11

Just a quick point about riptides. If god forbid you find yourself pulled out to sea by one, they’re easy to get free from if you don’t panic. Most people drown because they exhaust themselves trying to fight against the current to get back to shore.

Riptides are narrow bands of current that run from the beach out to sea. If you’re caught in one, swim PARALLEL to the beach and across the current until you pop out the other side of the riptide, then make your way back to shore.

hlywud 2008-01-07 13:37:31 UTC #12

Water is shallower, beaches are much wider, coral reef is not close to shore, wave action over the reef take place over a half mile out and not in closer to shore also there are NO coral outcrops or rocks to contend with, soft white sand botttom.

[quote author=hlywud board=general thread=1199645495 post=1199682070]The Punta Cana strip, the further south the better the beaches and calmer waters.

When you say better beaches more to the south, can you describe a bit more as to what makes them better? Thanks

VdP[/quote]

vdp 2008-01-07 16:37:43 UTC #13

Thanks guys! That helps. Waves…we like waves…the bigger the better. I grew up 12 miles from the Atlantic Ocean and spent my childhood jumping waves all summer long! I look at it this way…it gives you something to occupy yourself with while in the water…although I do realize that some folks prefer calm waters

We will be staying at the Iberostar -Punta Cana…can I assume that water entry is still all sand or are ‘water shoes’ needed? Thanks

bobfromcanada 2008-01-07 16:58:07 UTC #14

Well, it’s right next door to the Riu and no water shoes were required there …
I walked on the beach at the Iberostar and it looked great.

system 2008-01-07 17:35:05 UTC #15

[quote author=remote board=general thread=1199645495 post=1199711784]Just a quick point about riptides. If god forbid you find yourself pulled out to sea by one, they’re easy to get free from if you don’t panic. Most people drown because they exhaust themselves trying to fight against the current to get back to shore.

system 2008-01-07 17:36:19 UTC #16

We will be staying at the Iberostar -Punta Cana…can I assume that water entry is still all sand or are ‘water shoes’ needed? Thanks

We’ve been to this resort several times. Water entry is soft sand.

lbelle 2008-01-07 23:50:53 UTC #17

Thank you so much for the info. Pat!!!

I never knew what to do in a riptide. ??? You never know…you could have just saved a life with that!

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