Swimming is a pastime that most people have experienced at least once in their lives. It offers a fun way for people to stay in shape and learn how to handle themselves in the water. For those new to swimming, they often get taught about what they should and shouldn’t do to avoid endangering themselves and others.

But, there are some unspoken facts that it seems swimmers have to find out for themselves. The sad truth is that, sometimes, it can be too late before people know what to do in certain situations. If you’re learning to swim in open water (i.e. in the ocean from a beachside location), here’s what some people will never tell you:

You should always check your goggles before you wear them

As you can imagine, goggles make life easier when swimming, especially while doing so in the sea. You don’t have to worry about your eyes getting irritated, and you can always see where you’re going (as long as there’s light)!

However, some newbies to swimming forget to check their goggles BEFORE they go for a swim! What they won’t realize is that just because you adjusted them once doesn’t mean you won’t need to readjust them again in the future!

Buying the right safety gear is important

Have you ever heard the saying, “buy cheap, buy twice”? Well, it applies to the brands of safety accessories for swimmers. Goggles, as I mentioned, protect your eyes in the water. An inferior quality brand set of goggles could end up causing more harm than good.

You also need to consider what you need if you’re doing other activities apart from swimming. For example, let’s say you want to do a spot of stand-up paddleboarding after you’ve got for a swim. You’ll need to get the best PFD for SUP boards so that you don’t end up drowning if you fall off it. In such cases, it pays to buy a good quality brand as you can appreciate.

Sharks are a real possibility

There’s nothing worse when learning to swim than discovering that a shark has decided to make you the main course for their dinner! Some people assume that sharks are only found in open water miles from any coastline. The shocking truth is that more people are finding sharks swimming closer to the shore!

The even sadder truth is that more people are getting attacked by sharks each year, some fatally. It’s important to heed any warnings about shark sightings in the area you wish to swim in for obvious reasons.

You could encounter a rip current

Last, but not least, another thing that you may find when you swim in open water is that you get caught up in a rip current. In a nutshell, it’s a type of water current that occurs near beaches and has breaking waves.

If you get caught in a rip tide, you’ll find it impossible to swim back to shore. Instead, the only way to get out of it is by swimming parallel to the beach.