It is using your common sense, on a clear cloudless day the sea is rough, and the currents are strong, so you have to be a complete idiot to try and swim in the monsoon season.

Those currents can be particularly strong especially the rip tides....I was on Ashvem beach a couple of weeks ago about midday and it was during a full moon.
I was swimming and was only about 50 to 60 yards out when I heard a wee foreign voice shouting and saw a young lad of about 7 or 8 about 15 yards further out struggling against the rip.
He was swimming for all he was worth against the current but only succeeded in getting dragged further out.
Fortunately I was able to reach him and get him back ashore ....he was only a skinny little runt and when I grabbed him his poor little heart was pounding against his chest.
What are the parents of these kids thinking letting them out in strange waters????
His dad was grateful when I got him back ashore but it was only good fortune that I was in the right place at the right time because even so it was a struggle to reach him and get him back.
I dread to think of what might have happened and the language barrier made it difficult for me to tell him what i thought ( I think he was Russian )

Dave that is terrible, and as you say what were his parents thinking about, but you saved his life. Was he just a young lad.
Thank god you were in the right place at the right time.

Its all to do with the undercurrent as large waves approach the beach. However, I often went swimming at Baga Beach and swam about 20m out from the shore and then I swam parallel to the beach. But I have to say that I am a very strong swimmer and didn't have any problems.

The undercurrent is strongest closer to the shore. That is where you have to be most careful.

Having just returned, the 2 weeks we were there was great for swimming from very early morning 'till around 2pm on Candolim beach, then the wind picked up and you had the 'dragging' effect to the side but not being pulled out, the strong winds always picked up at the same time each day.
As for the jet ski's - yup, a right pain, and mainly Indian tourists who were up to no good on them.

I know it is easier said than done but if you are unfortunate enough to be dragged out on a rip tide then DO NOT struggle against it. Rips are channels of water heading back outwards.
Never try to swim against them as they can be far too strong even for the finest of swimmers
Instead attempt to swim parallel to the shore line and you will eventualy free yourself allowing you to come back in safely.
Better still try not to swim at all in certain areas of goa belt that are notorious for rips.
Even waist high you can be in danger !
Ex naval clearance diver so had first hand experiance of rip-tides way back in my youth.
I promise you even with fins on surface swimming against a rip is next to impossible.
The sea will win every time.
Another tip and very very important try not to swim directly after food and under no circumstances after consuming quanitys of alcohol.

Be safe

Happy holidays

Taxi

Good advice there Taxi!

Eldest son and g.friend got caught in a rip on Patara Beach in Turkey. Took them right up the beach . LUCKILY they were both lifeguards so knew exactly what to do and as you rightly said, didn't even attempt to fight it.

I am constantly amazed by how far some people swim out.Either they are very strong swimmers or just stupid.

The undercurrents along the coast are lethal as I can attest if anyone read about my poor wifes near miss last year.

We now only go up to waist height and no further.

I do not want to be on a plane with my wifes coffin in the hold.

Regards

Papa

I'm quite a good swimmer but trust my instincts in Goa, very rare do I actually swim! - go for a bit of a paddle and that's it. You can feel the current even paddling knee high.

Well Gemma he was only a young lad of about 7 or 8 and a skinny wee thing, but like I say it was down to pure luck that I was close enough to see he was in distress.
It just goes to show how easily these tragedies happen !!!
Sound advice from Taxi regarding the rips ... but for the inexperienced they panic and just head for the shortest route to the shore.
Only half an hour earlier Sue was only waist high and struggling and I had to tow her out using Taxis parallel method till we escaped the rip.
During our 2 weeks there we spent every other day at Morjim beach ( we only went to Ashvem once ) and most days they put yellow and red flags out and there is a lifeguard present adjecent to the Planet Morjim shack.
Although I cant see what good he would be as he seems to be asleep in his little Palm covered lean to most of the time, never patrols the shore, has no binoculars or any other life saving gear that I could see and does not seem to show up at weekends !!!!
We spent many hours in the sea there at various times of the day and didnt have any problems and those big waves are great fun..... i'm 6ft 3 and they can flip you over no problem.

Sorry Dave ive just read your previous post and you said the wee boy was only about 7 or 8
His parents are fools letting him go into the sea on his own. At least you were on hand to help out.

Elsi

Assuming the weather runs as norm mid june to late August is the monsoon season although it can start as early as March. I know they've had a few rainy days already but certainly June onwards is the peak season. You're much more likely to get big storms lasting a day or two then several days of sun.

More importantly I'm not sure you'll find a great deal open as it is extremely hot and humid at that time and many people, even the indians, have left by then. I know there are more and more ex-pats stopping there through monsoon now so it might not be completely empty.

Even in the peak of monsoon you shouldn't think of it as endless weeks of rain. It's more like a few days of rain then a day or two of sun.

I know many people that prefer Goa during monsoon because it's all so green. It's maybe not the best time for the beach as the sea will be rough and the currents are dangerous with most of the shacks having been taken down it's not even a question of staying close to other bathers. And like it says in this thread it is dangerous at the best of times but there's plenty of other things to do.

If you're staying n a hotel then it'll probably have apool anyway

Fritz, cheers for the advice, greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

I was at "La Plage" in January and I saw 2 Indian lads being pulled from the sea. The sight of their dead bodies lying on the beach, stiffening rigamortis, will haunt me for a long time.

Please avoid the sea

Paul

That sounds horrific

I always swim off Candolim beach and love it! You do have to be careful/sensible though. It is easy to get knocked over by waves when getting in/out of the sea (time it right) and I always go in with my husband. I never go out of my depth either. The earlier was right that it seems to be less rough in the morning before the wind gets up a bit.

I you are unsure or not a good swimmer then don't go in - or at least past thigh height.

Just read this article http://navhindtimes.com/articles.php?Story_ID=041519
I hope they do get some Medical backup into place, and most of all more warning signs, as I'm sure many visitors do not realise the dangers.
x lassi

We would certainly hope so, lassi.

I noticed this bit in the article:
"Three firms with proven credentials are in the fray"
I just hope they REALLY do have proven credentials - and are not just companies looking to make a fast rupee - as we've seen a number of times with so-called salavage companies engaged to remove the River Princess!

The description in the article of what happened immediately after the actual drownings at Morjim is horrific.

Polly

After reading the article above re moving the man to the jeep,when at Vagator Beach
in Dec last year a young Indian lad had drownd ,we were in a shack when the police
came and thinking they had sent for a ambulance we were amazed to see a small boat
coming in to the shore line , if we had not seen this with our own eyes would not have
believed it,they tied a rope around the lads ankles and towed him out to sea[not even
putting him in to the boat] we were told they were taking him to Panjim it was really
upsetting to watch.will never forget it.
ann