March 2026 (ROTM#207) Cancun, Mexico

White sands and dangerous rips.

This is instalment three in my ‘Images Taken off the Web of Famous Tourist Beaches that have Rip Currents that Never Get Mentioned in the Tourist Promos’ series and it’s off to North America to Cancun, Mexico, which is located on the Yucatan Peninsula on the Gulf of Mexico (the correct name).  Growing up in Canada, Cancun was a major tourist destination to escape to in the winter given it’s beautiful beaches with calm, turquoise water. Being close to Mayan ruins was nice too. Unfortunately I never went, but I was shocked to learn that the beaches can be quite dangerous a lot of the time with large waves and strong rip currents.

 In the documentary ‘Rip Current Rescue’ which was made by Australian documentary maker Jason Markland, there is footage of a lifeguard making a dramatic rescue of tourists stuck in a rip current. In this picture there are channelised rip currents at semi-regular intervals along the entire beach – I’m looking at the green gaps between areas of breaking waves. All of them would have an offshore flowing rip current and given the amount of resort frontage, the chances of getting caught in one is pretty high. So once again – if you go to Cancun, be careful when you go for a swim and make sure to swim near lifeguards.