Camber sands tragedy

[bibbitybobbityyhat]

What on earth has happened at Camber Sands? Are there insufficient life guards or something? I am not prone to hysteria but I would not be going to that beach anytime soon. Such a terrible event, somewhat buried by other news yesterday and the string of drownings in the last week.

Pink It was Jodi and Tom, aged six and four (I think). Poor, poor parents.

www.independent.co.uk/news/if-only-wed-gone-with-them-we-paid-the-highest-price-we-lost-them-both-1361692.html

Yes, just found this. Utterly heartbreaking.

Think it really illustrates how quickly these things can happen....

Absolutely. And frightening that the parents really didn't believe they could have drowned (even though they couldn't swim) because the water looked so safe.

I live fairly near to west Witterings beach. Just like camber sands. Just as dangerous.

A man drowned there in past few years rescuing a child.

So very sad.

Now reported as a combination of quicksand and riptide. Considering the large numbers of visitors from outside the area that visit this beach more needs to be done to warn about the dangers on this beach. A friend has been their with her DCs a few times this summer and had no idea.

*there

Quicksand?!

The BBC are reporting the sea was too calm for a riptide and nothing about quicksand. Sand bars, not quicksand.

Camber Sands deaths: Victims 'could have underestimated tide'
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-37182791

See, I wouldn't even know a red flag meant no swimming

I don't swim in the sea anyway coz it bloody terrifies me but I do wonder if the flag system is 'clear' enough, or enough people know about it for it to be effective for those who don't live by the sea.

It's an awful thing though, those poor people.

Sand bars sounds very plausible. I am often shocked how naive people are about walking out to sand bars

Tbh I am shocked there aren't more tragedies, people seem astonishingly complacent about the risks of the sea/ water in general. I was at the beach yesterday with my kids and before we got out of the car I made it very clear that they had to follow all my instructions instantly or we would go straight home. They weren't to go in the sea without me. Yet when we all went in, and had lots of fun, there were lots of other children in there of a similar age (5!) without a parent with them!

Similarly I used to take my boy to big paddling pools but found it horribly stressful how many parents let their toddlers paddle in waist height water without supervising constantly (most were on their phones!)

Our nearest simIlar beach to camber is west wittering and I have seen countless acts of idiocy there and people swimming well out of their depth and ability level, children using inflatables unsupervised etc etc

Not victim blaming, this is an awful tragedy. But there is far far too much complacency about the risks of the sea.

I'm a trained lifeguard and keen swimmer and I can promise you I never relax for a minute near water with my kids. That doesn't mean we don't have lots of fun, but it is vital to quietly remain on high alert and to stick with them at all times!

Just saw the photos of 4 of the men on the ten.

Oh god, they were just young lads :(

Late teens and early 20s.

Their poor families.

Caught out by the tide.

Could so easily happen to anyone not familiar with the area.

I think they need to.consider signage warning of those dangers.

A tide that moves faster than a person can walk is a fearsome thing.

"I'm also surprised and shocked to hear that it's normal not to have lifeguards at beaches in the UK. I don't go to the beach here as its too far away. "

As far as I can remember, I have NEVER been to a beach with a lifeguard in any country. According to one poster above, that means I should never swim in the sea. I'll consider this, but it's the first time I've heard that advice.

I've just been to the Costa Brava and visited 5 or 6 beaches, some as large as camber sands, some very small. All had lifeguard stations, obviously the larger ones had several.

Ive been to camber sands. The tide comes in QUICKLY. It really surprised me how quick.

My dd has been swimming in the sea all week as have i. i have a strict stay within depth rule although that can be difficult on uneven beach.

What astounded me last weekend in lyme regis the sea was really rough. Lots of young children body boarding - my dd wasn't allowed in.It was frightening.

In France (Atlantic coast) there were lifeguards and a very clear flag system.

Greek Islands - I don't think there were any - possibly there were at the main beaches - but we always went to more remote places. The Med (Aegian) is a bit less dangerous though I think?

My local beach at home (not in UK) removed lifeguards about 15 years ago because it was felt that their prescence meant people were prepared to take more risks ' because it'll be fine, I'll be rescued if anything happens'. I'm not sure what it is about the beach thats so dangerous, I think theres rip-tides ( it's one of a chain of beaches that are very popular for surfing on an international level).
One Sunday at this stage group of guys in their late teens were standing about knee deep in the water when suddenly they were all pulled out to sea,3 or 4 drowned and 2 were ressusitated......there are warnings and a memorial to the boys on the beach front now, people (visitors and tourists, not locals generally unless they have a board with them) do still go in and have their kids in the water, but thankfully there have been no drownings afaik since

I know Camber well. I find the beach a bit creepy tbh and would never swim or let my kids do more than a paddle.

When the tide is out it's miles out so people go a long way to get enough depth for a swim, then the tide turns really quickly.

It has 'quicksand' in the beach too, horribly parts where you start to get your legs stuck suddenly.

I'm so sorry for those poor guys.

According to one poster above, that means I should never swim in the sea.

You might mean me, but that is not at all what I intended.

I said that I would see a lack of lifeguards on a popular beach (such as Camber Sands) as an indication it was dangerous for swimming.

Quiet coves I would just observe, ask for local advice, be careful.

I do avoid swimmimg on huge, shallow beaches where the tide goes out for miles.

I've been reading more about Camber Sands and it seems that the tide comes in at an incredible speed.

So gutted for those boys. Well men, but so so young. Barely out of theur teens. Heartbreaking. :(

I know Camber Sands very well. I have been going there since I was a small child, and my family has been going there since the 1930s. It's a huge, rural beach. Problems arise when city dwellers, unused to the very real dangers of nature, go there and expect the security of their local lido.

There has been mention in the press about them playing football, and being cut off by the swift rising tide. I can't actually visualise where this would happen (betwwen sandbanks?) on Camber, as it is such a long flat beach, with sand dunes up the top. But the tide does come in very quickly there, and goes out a long, long way.

It has made my blood run cold this - talk of 'cut off' and quicksand. Very, very sorry for those young men and their families.

I wonder if we'll go there again as a family - I would never have thought of it as a dangerous beach.

We have been there before and are off tomorrow for a week. It's such a flat sandy beach it's really hard to see how there could be such serious problems:(

How do we expect people to be educated about this stuff then? I grew up near camber and I don't know anything about rip tides.

Conversely, I (and I imagine 25,000 other people the other day) would not read the lack of lifeguards as a warning sign that the beach isn't safe for swimming!

If a beach isn't safe for swimming I would expect warning signs in a first world country!