Situated on the gorgeous Forgotten Coast, Cape San Blas is a gorgeous coastal destination that is renowned for its soft sandy beaches, clear waters, and rich array of plants and wildlife. This is a place where you’ll want to be outside all day, soaking up the sun and enjoying fun outdoor activities like kayaking and snorkeling.
However, while there is a lot of fun to be had in Cape San Blas, one must always take caution around water — even in seemingly idyllic places like these. The following are a few smart tips for staying safe on your next waterfront vacation in Florida:
The Concise Guide to Staying Safe on the Water in Cape San Blas
1. Know Your Beach Flags
Beach flags are a simple, old-fashioned way to get a very clear message across to everyone who sees them — and with just about every beach entrance and certainly every public beach area along Cape San Blas having a flag pole, they’re pretty hard to miss.
Lifeguards and city employees regularly change the flags every morning and whenever conditions have changed throughout the day. Different color flags indicate different types of hazards and water conditions that swimmers and boaters should be aware of, such as strong currents or marine pests like jellyfish. View our full guide on the beach flags of Destin, Cape San Blas, and other areas here.
2. Understand Rip Currents
Rip currents and beach flags are a safety combo. Red beach flags indicate strong currents, potentially strong rip currents. One red flag means that the water is dangerous and all should avoid swimming while a double red flag means that swimming is outright prohibited due to very dangerous water conditions. In Cape San Blas, being on the Gulf Coast, it is very rare to see red beach flags outside of an impending hurricane.
However, visitors here may see a yellow flag on the beach, which indicates moderate surf and currents in which there may be a rip current at play. Whenever you see a yellow beach flag, we recommend talking with a lifeguard about the underlying water conditions as it may indicate a rip current. Rip currents should be avoided always as they are very, very hard to swim out of as shown by these unfortunate rip current statistics.
In addition to beach flags offering a general awareness of rip current likelihood, there are some other more physical signs you can watch out for. These signs include:
- Discolored water near clear water | If there is one section of water that appears darker or murkier than water on either side of it, you may be looking at a forming rip current that is churning water out more aggressively.
- Calmer, narrow stretch of water | The most dangerous part of rip currents is how quickly and aggressively they pull water back out to the sea (or in the case of Cape San Blas, the Gulf of Mexico). Once a rip current forms, that massive, strong current can appear like a calm stretch of water as instead of waves crashing against the beach, it is a backdraft going far out from the coastline.
- Mass amount of debris further out | Rip currents suck everything out away from seaweed, driftwood, and similar debris.
Should you ever find yourself in a rip current, it is important to:
Stay calm! Panicking and splashing around and and will waste your energy. The most important thing to do when caught into a rip current is to stay calm. These types of currents will not pul you underwater, only pull you out from shore. Which certainly is scary, but as long as you stay calm and float you will stay above the waterline.
Don’t fight! There are two schools of thought with getting out of a rip current. For a long time, the best suggestion was to swim parred to shore until you can get out of the current. However, more recently, this has changed to the recommendation of lying back and allowing the current to take you out. Certainly, during this time, you should signal to shore that you’re caught, but wait until the current slows down and then use your energy more effectively to swim safely back to shore.
3. Have Shark Awareness
Finally, it is always important to remember that we are not the only ones in the water. Sharks can be deadly, but as the annual statistics show, a fatal encounter with a shark in Florida waters is very rare. Additionally, there are some good precautions you can take to reduce your risks of a shark encounter even more:
– Avoid swimming at dawn or dusk when sharks are most active in their search for food.
– Always swim in groups to ward off sharks looking for easy lone prey.
– Avoid swimming near people fishing as fish blood and bait may attract sharks to the area.
Learn About All the Fun Things Cape San Blas Has to Offer
We hope this quick list of three of the primary hazards or concerns of swimming in Cape San Blas was informative for you. However, we do want to emphasize while swimming and boating in Cape San Blas and other areas of the Forgotten Coast has its risks, those risks of injury or death are very, very low. Tens of millions of people visit the Florida coastline every year and leave with happy, sun and water-filled memories. Isn’t it time for you to see why so many others come and keep coming here year after year?
If so, then be sure to check out our other Cape San Blas guides on our websites to learn more about the fun and exciting attractions this gorgeous slice of Florida has to offer. From the best luxury lodging locations to delicious hole-in-the-wall restaurants, we cover it all so that when it’s time for you to visit Florida, you have everything you need for an unparalleled vacation.
