Reply to Looking for kids friendly, not so overcrowded, beaches one can drive to from DC mid August

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]^ ah yes, only downside to OBX is that the 'water' is not kid friendly, unless they're good swimmers.[/quote]

Not true unless you pick a rough day, which all beaches have.  Waves were great for my 3 year old yesterday.  On rough days, you can go to the sound which never has waves.  People drown everywhere, not just on OBX.[/quote]

Sure...

The beach is composed of coarse sand and pea-sized gravel that is reddish in color.  The coarse sand translates to a steeply grading beach into deeper water so that waves can come close to shore before breaking.  I recommend that families with children visit these shores early in the summer when the waves are relatively small.

During the late summer, especially August and September, the Atlantic Ocean really becomes stoked by tropical storms and hurricanes in the tropical latitudes.  Big swell waves can travel for thousands of miles without losing their energy until they break upon the beach.  In these cases, dangerous surf can be produced as well as the life-threatening rip currents.  A number of people have been drowned on the Outer Banks in recent years because they do not understand or recognize these powerful offshore-flowing rip currents.

The most instrumented beach in the world is at Duck—the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers Field Research Facility.  Touring this facility, which was formerly a bombing range during World War II, you will discover how coastal scientists and engineers make measurements of  waves and currents as well as record changes in the beach and nearshore areas.  A high-resolution videocamera has been installed in the tower overlooking the beach.  This beachcam provides streaming video of the surf zone, which can be used to analyze the changing position of the underwater bars (by inference of the breaking wave patterns) and possible presence of rip currents.

Rip currents at Duck persist for weeks or even months at the same places, moving through underwater channels or breaks in the inner bars.  Only a particularly large winter storm (e.g., nor’easter) or hurricane moves and/or destroys these channels—conduits for the seaward-flowing currents.  Some rip currents lasted from May until September according to Dr. Robert Dean, a colleague at the University of Florida.  This finding contradicts the prevailing view of rip currents as spontaneous and short-lived events.  While they may exist at the same position for months, they only become strong (and hence noticeable and dangerous) with the approach of large swell waves producing plunging breakers.  Certain sections of the shoreline appear to be more prone to rip currents than others, but no systematic studies have been undertaken.

http://www.ripcurrents.com/ripcurrents101.html[/quote]

We love OBX and go every year.  THis poster is correct that the currents can be strong.  You have to be careful.  We were just there (left today).  The waves were crazy because of storms.  The crazy beauty of the water there is what I love, but I am always cautious.[/quote]

Thank you![/quote]

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