Beach Safety

Here at Liquid Life Vacation Rentals our goal is to do our best to make sure everyone has the best vacation while remaining safe. You can still have fun while being safe! There are a two main things you can do while on the beach to stay safe, wear sunscreen and know your beach warning flags. When on the beach it is important to not only wear sunscreen but to reapply throughout the day. You even want to wear sunscreen when it is overcast or cloudy. The sun has very strong rays that reach through those clouds when you are least expecting it. You definitely don’t want to be dealing with a sun burn while on a wonderful vacation! 

Another key way to stay safe while enjoying the beach is to know the beach warning flag system. Gulf Shores and Orange Beach used to have a single red flag that only flew when conditions were not safe for swimming but over the years they have adopted a five flag warning system. This system uses the colors red, yellow, green and purple. You can think about the first three kind of how you would think of a traffic light. Red means stop, yellow means slow up because you are about to stop and green means go but in this case go with caution. 

So here we go. Know the flags. 

When you see a double red flag flying on the beach this means that the conditions are not right for swimmers and the water is closed to the public. If you enter the water when the double red flags are flying you could potentially receive a fine and/or jail time because it is illegal to enter the water during that time. A single red flag (high hazard) means there is high surf and/ or strong currents. A yellow flag (medium hazard) means there is moderate surf and/or moderate currents. The green flag (low hazard) means conditions are calm but you should still exercise caution. The purple flag means that dangerous marine life has been spotted. 

It is always smart to use caution when any of the flags are flying because even the strongest of swimmers can have trouble in our ever changing Gulf waters. Some other keys things to remember while swimming at the beach are to never swim alone, swim close to a life guard, never swim while under the influence and don’t swim at night. 

For current conditions in Gulf Shores, dial 251-968-TIDE (8433).

For current conditions in Orange Beach, dial 251-981-SURF (7873).

Also, don’t forget to keep our beaches clean and safe! View more at cleanisland.org 

 

Published on Thursday, April 13, 2017