Beaches & Swimming
Points and Headlands Squeeze the Tide Into a Fast Lane
The same volume of water has to get past the obstacle, so it accelerates, and around some headlands it moves faster than anyone can…
Beaches & Swimming
Water, tides, safety and beaches that reward turning up early.
21 articles · updated August 11, 2026 · page 2 of 2
Beaches & Swimming
A Harbour Entrance Is a Traffic Lane With Water in It
Dredged channels, blind spots from a wheelhouse, propeller wash and a tidal stream funnelled into a gap: an entrance is the busiest…
Beaches & Swimming
An Estuary Is a River and a Sea Arguing With Each Other
Fresh water floating on salt, a flow that is not symmetrical between ebb and flood, and banks that move between one visit and the…
Beaches & Swimming
Getting Used to Cold Water Takes a Season, Not a Weekend
Repeated exposure blunts the initial shock response, but it does nothing for the deeper cooling that follows, and it fades when you…
Beaches & Swimming
Why the Shivering Starts After the Swim Rather Than During It
Body temperature keeps falling for a while after you leave cold water, which is why the worst of it arrives when you think it is…
Beaches & Swimming
Waves Arrive in Groups, and the Quiet Bit Is Doing the Persuading
Swell does not turn up evenly. It comes in sets with lulls between them, and the lull is what convinces people to commit.
Beaches & Swimming
Snorkelling Puts Your Attention Underwater and the Sea Notices
Face down with your ears full, you lose almost every cue about wind, drift and distance, and you can cover a lot of ground without…
Beaches & Swimming
A Tidal Pool Is Sea Water With a Wall Around It
Built pools fill when the sea reaches them, empty slowly through the days between, and behave nothing like the swimming pool they…
Beaches & Swimming
A Wetsuit Changes the Problem Rather Than Solving It
Neoprene buys time and buoyancy, not immunity, and the confidence it produces is the part that most often causes trouble.