Would you take inflatables to a UK beach?

[ewchoc]

Going to stay by the beach in the UK next week and debating whether to take the big inflatable toys we would play with in the paddling pool at home (lilo/big turtle/unicorn, that sort of thing). The kids would love to play with them, but it will probably be too cold to be actually swimming and I'm worried they'll blow away. We went to the same beach last year and it was very windy!

Do you take big inflatables to UK beaches or would you recommend against it?

Not at all.
I even make DH walk to the flagged area that the lifeguards watch when he goes for a swim!

No

@m0therofdragons

Well everyone in Weymouth has inflatables. It’s shallow so we have a rope attached and one dc (10-13 years old) ensures they are out of the boat while the other two are in it. You can safely play in the sea but it depends on the beach and weather.

That's exactly what the rule was for us. I was 13yo and generally considered very sensible when I momentarily let go of my sister to retrieve someone else's ball.

Thank god there were surf lifeguards at that beach.

Please don't

Well that's pretty unanimous, one less thing to pack then! The beach we go to you can walk for miles before it gets more than ankle deep so I hadn't imagined them being swept away, but point taken.

I used to think my Dad was SUCH a miserable git for not letting us have them. He was of course absolutely right. Haven’t told him that though 😀

I wish they would stop selling the bastard things. Complete waste of vinyl and too dangerous to use.

No way. I would only use inflatables in a pool. The risk of them being swept away is too high.

No

I take an inflatable boat with a rope to my local beach where the rocks create a large pool when the tide goes out, and I’ve checked tide times carefully beforehand. It’s never more than waist height, and if I lost control the boat would end up on a large rock bank. Even then it’s difficult to keep a hold of the rope against the wind/ small current, particularly if you lose your footing. I would not do that on ANY other beach, and it’s quite amazing that these things are sold to be honest.

Inflatables for pools only. Except inflatable boats which we allow in the river, but never the sea.

definitely not

Only somewhere like Blackpool Sands near Dartmouth. There’s a permanent line to stop you drifting too far and there’s lifeguards.

I recall as a teen taking an inflatable ring to a beach with waves. I was sitting with my bum inside the ring, relaxing in the sun, when a large wave flipped me over. I had underestimated how plump my bum was, and how far in I'd been sitting, so when I flipped, I couldn't get it off or flip over! I was therefore floating upside down, bum up and head down.

I can laugh now, but it was the only time in my life I actually thought I was going to die! I've never taken an inflatable to the beach since.

I had a lot of fun when I was younger with inflatable tyres off our beach growing up. I’m hindsight probably not that safe. My sister who was old enough to be better had to be rescued as she hasn’t noticed she was drifting into boat territory and danger.