July 2025 (ROTM#199) Cancun, Mexico

Might be best to stick to the pool.

Full disclosure – I am posting this month (and up to the November ROTM) in late November as I have been a bit slack in keeping up with my Rip of the Months. It’s been a busy year! But better late than never.

As I write this I’m also excited by the fact that the ‘Can you Spot a Rip Current Quiz’ from the April 2025 ROTM (How to spot a rip) has been nominated for an Australian Walkley Award under the category ‘Explanatory Journalism’!

So back to this picture of the beach at Cancun, Mexico, which I copied from a travel website that I can no longer find, oops. Cancun is a huge tourist destination, mostly for North Americans, and most people associate it with placid waters. But it’s not like that all the time. Cancun is in the Gulf of Mexico (sorry, I refuse to call it anything else) and can get decent sized waves that can cause rip currents. This picture shows a series of channelised rip currents (the dark green gaps) lining the beach in front of the resorts and condos. That is a VERY dangerous beach when these conditions occur. There are lifeguards along the beach, some run by the hotels themselves, and there are moves in place to increase lifeguard presence and extend the patrol hours. The danger of Cancun rip currents was captured in the Apple TV documentary Rip Current Rescue which included this harrowing footage.

So by all means, head to Cancun for a vacation. But please be careful swimming on the beaches there. Look for lifeguards and swim near them.