How deep in the sea?

[Onestuartone]

Hi,

This is my first post here, so I hope I've done it right!

I have 2 kids, 12 and 5. We're going to the beach soon and was wondering how deep I can let the 12 year old go into the sea. The currents and waves are very minimal, but how deep should they be able to go? I was thinking up to the waist, or maybe up to the chest?

I'll be watching them the entire time and will be in the water with my 5 year old when they go in. (There's also lifeguards around)

Thank you in advance

No way up to their chest. Knee height without an adult with them who isn't watching them all time, even at knee height they can be knocked over by a wave.

There are lots of other things to consider such as how much the sea floor shelves or if it's an area known for rip tides. If you're not used to being in the sea then I'd suggest you say your 12 year old should stay within grabbing distance of you and go no deeper than waist height. Have a look at the safety tips and rescue videos from the RNLI and make sure you all know what the different flags mean, how to float etc.

How competent and confident a swimmer is the 12 year old and how often have they swam in the sea? That would majorly influence my decision on their boundaries.

Can they swim?

You will not be able to watch 2 children in the sea at the same time.

sand often drops away suddenly with the current in certain areas, so knee height could suddenly become waist height. i wouldnt allow deeper than knee unless they were competent swimmers and would be ok to get to safety when a bit panicked.

I live by the sea and when I read things like this it scares me! Have you checked the lifeguards are even back working.. there's a very limited amount actually back at work! Can your children swim confidently? Do you know the tide times? One last word of warning.. do not bring inflatable items which drift off far quicker than you think.

All variable factors need to be considered like weather and beach slope, life guards, warnings etc.

My kids (11 and 13) swim in the Solent in all summer weathers except extreme wind but they have full wetsuits, shoes and bouyancy aids. I'd never let them swim there without them. It's also right next to the coastguard station and as it's a sailing club there are rescue boats most weekends. They have to be alert for sailing boats and wind surfers! They swim up to their chests. They were in there yesterday body boarding as it was too windy to sail. It shelves off quite quickly and they know it but I am usually in with them.

In other situations like in Spain or other south coast locations they have swum up to their waists without bouyancy aids (and they were younger) when I know the beach is gently shelving and no warning flags and weather is calm.

I always stay by the edge or in the sea with them. Bloody tedious when I just want to lie down and relax!

My 6 year old now loves sea swimming so looks like I'll be joining them for a good while yet!

Posts like this make me feel like I'm through the looking glass.

At 12, myself and the majority of similarly aged family members were pretty comfortable swimming out of our depth in the sea, supervised by adults and with lifeguards on the beach. If your child is a decent swimmer, it would never occur to me to restrict how deep they could go. Teach them what to do if they get caught in a rip, check with the lifeguards about currents or tricky spots when you go in, and stay between the flags.

@SomeoneElseEntirelyNow

Posts like this make me feel like I'm through the looking glass.

At 12, myself and the majority of similarly aged family members were pretty comfortable swimming out of our depth in the sea, supervised by adults and with lifeguards on the beach. If your child is a decent swimmer, it would never occur to me to restrict how deep they could go. Teach them what to do if they get caught in a rip, check with the lifeguards about currents or tricky spots when you go in, and stay between the flags.

That's all well and good but the op is going to be trying to supervise a 12 year old whilst looking after a 5 year old. I'm all for encouraging sea swimming but it has to be properly supervised.

depends
where I am the advice is waist high on supervised beaches and knee high otherwise.
all dc are encouraged to do open swimming/surf courses for water safety.
we have a quite shallow beach with minimal current.

Does he know what to do if he gets swept off his feet or starts drifting out and can't swim back? He needs to be able to float on his back calmly and hold his arm up in the air as high as he can (so lifeguards can spot him from their tower, it is the signal for help needed please). Verify he can do that at a minimum even with waves sloshing him about before you let him go any deeper than knee height. If he hasn't had many swimming lessons I probably still wouldn't let him even if he can float well.

This is massively variable depending on beach and experience. Some beaches (Porthcurno, I’m looking at you) are not very safe for swimming as they shelve steeply and have a strong undertow. Others are much safer, e.g. Carbis Bay to use another west Cornwall example. But it depends on the conditions, what the sea is doing, and whether there are any lifeguards on yet. It also depends on how well your child can swim, and what kind of water instincts they have, what will they do in a rip? When I think of the way we played in the sea as kids I shudder, it’s partly luck that we survived to tell the tale!

@SomeoneElseEntirelyNow Posts like this make me feel like I’m through the looking glass

These answers seem very conservative to me too. My kids swam at chest depth and deeper when they were those ages (and I was supervising a younger child).
But I am Australian and I suspect we have a different attitude to sea swimming.

That said, no one can answer this for you OP, there are so many variables - the safety of that particular beach and your knowledge of it, your swimming ability, your children’s swimming ability and their degree of risk-taking, the presence or absence of lifeguards to name a few. Given that you need to ask the question though, I suspect you should err on the side of safety.

Is there a metaphor here? If so I am missing it?

At least supervise them having a swim first. So they find out that the waves hit them in the face, that the seafloor might not be where they think it is. Or supervise them having a swim then bring them in to play in the waves and on the beach.

Knee height? For a 12 year old that can swim?
Unless I’m missing something here I’d suggest you let them crack on and you worry about the younger one.

My mother grew up by the sea, and was a competent 4 miler long before she was 10.
She used to only let us swim in the sea without her once we could competently swim at least 5 lengths of the pool without stopping, I think I was about 6 or 7 by then.
We only went in when the tide was on the turn and coming in, and only until high tide. Never if it was going out.
We knew to look for and avoid places where there might be a riptide or difficult currents.
We knew how to float, but never used inflatables.
We knew to swim across if pulled out to sea before turning to come in rather than try to swim against a current.

We knew to not go too far beyond certain points,depending on the beach.
We didn't drown.

Obviously it depends on exactly where this is (shelving, currents etc) and how strong a swimmer the12 yo is but:
No way up to their chest. Knee height without an adult with them who isn't watching them all time, even at knee height they can be knocked over by a wave.

You really can't swim in knee high water in the sea. It's not physically possible. That's paddling. And IME (I grew up by the sea, steeply shelving beach) you're much more likely to be knocked off your feet when the water is at knee height than at waist height - then your centre of gravity in the water, you've got some buoyancy, hopefully beyond the wave break zone, and it's possible to swim without scraping yourself on the sand and shingle.

Not sure where your beach is but here in the North east the sea temp is 10-11 degrees at the moment so without a wetsuit you cant be in there for long before you start to stiffen up and swimming becomes even more dificult / dangerous. if theyre just nipping in and out quickly then less of an issue.

@Coffeeand

Knee height? For a 12 year old that can swim? Unless I’m missing something here I’d suggest you let them crack on and you worry about the younger one.

Yes, knee height. A 12 year old who can swim well in a pool is not necessarily a 12 year old who can swim well in the sea where it can suddenly get deeper, where she can get knocked off her feet, where cold water is an issue plus currents and rip tides. Add to that a parent who cannot supervise adequately despite their best intentions and it's better to be on the safe side.

Well ... as it's a beach with lifeguards, maybe best ask their advice on what they think should be ok, as they will know what the local conditions are like.

@ErrolTheDragon

Well ... as it's a beach with lifeguards, maybe best ask their advice on what they think should be ok, as they will know what the local conditions are like.

That's always good advice, it's what my beach lifeguard DS would say to do (and BTW he agrees with a default of knee height initially).