Rescued From a Rip Current

My daughter, Bella, her friend, and I get caught in a rip current (at Kata Beach in Phuket, Thailand). The rip tide current is surprisingly strong. We tried to swim sideways to get out of the current's flow, but kept getting pulled farther out. Our situation soon got scary and we had to call for help . . .

There has been criticism of treating this situation with less concern than there should have been. I agree; we could have heeded the red flags and swam elsewhere; I should have been less focused on filming, perhaps I shouldn't have filmed at all. I had never been in a rip current before and underestimated how strong it is. I thought I could easily lead the girls out sideways from the outflow. As some point out, the sea was calm with normal wave action; we could touch the bottom. I thought I would be making a short video on how to successfully exit a rip current/outgoing tide. But we kept getting pulled farther out. For the last 30 seconds before the surfer showed up, I stopped "aiming" and let the camera remain submerged below the water. It was genuinely worrisome to be in that situation. There is no inauthenticity about the action on the camera. Our experience was unplanned, not coordinated, and completely unnerving.

Видео Rescued From a Rip Current канала Mike Vernon