Sneaker wave on Oregon coast, October 11, 2014 

@@Grateful2Exist iirc, it's because of the rip tides that are often accompanying sneakers. Rip tides are strong undercurrents that drag you out further, and because they're so strong, trying to seim against them will tire you out and kill you. Likewise, swimming with them will only drag you out further. Instead, you swim along the shore line until you're out of the rip, and then it's safe to head to shore.

Exact same thing happened to me up North except that I got sucked out and my dad swam out to save me. I was 7 or 8 years old. Never turned my back on the ocean again.

On the East Coast Ive always referred to that phenomenon as "constructive wave formation" and it can temporarily get you. Ive been in them here in Florida. Hold your breath for 30 seconds or so and then proceed as normal.

Excellent point.

Sometimes my friends and I carry logs and place them way higher than the waves could ...just for shits and giggles and to make people think the water put them there.

​@@seanconnell622 moving a water logged log is a big job lol

@@saireygamp62 It was, probably 60 of us in total, we considered it training for our rugby. New Zealand arent the best for nothing. Now if you'll excuse me there a massive boulder that looks like it would take a 45 ton excavator to meet it., see if I can round up the boys.....time to give that rock some freedom.....

@@seanconnell622 figured you would need an exceptional team lol,

You don't fight a current! You swim diagonally with it in the direction you want to go. This is why people drown. They swim against it instead of with it. Its seawater. Very buoyant. If you get tired you float on your back. If you can't tread water for 30 minutes effortlessly you have no business swimming in an ocean. Currents can take you places and you have to go with the flow until you can calmly swim back in.

@@bequieter1103 - I don't think you can survive 30 minutes in the water off the Oregon coast ... very cold, hypothermia sets in quickly ...

I always have to get on my friends from the mid west when we go to the beach. they are forever trying to turn their backs to the waves.

@@bequieter1103 different story when your taken by surprise wearing clothes heavy boots etc ....lots of people panic

@@wawabbit Very sorry to hear that, may he rest in peace...

Not even for a split second?

@@w.s8676 'Split seconds' become progressively longer. If you don't get his drift, you never will .. even for a split second.

@@thomasmusso1147 what if you do turn your back on the ocean and nothing happens should you feel guilty?

@@w.s8676 yes not even for a split second, because you never know when mother nature will strike.

@@w.s8676 yes because showing a lack of respect for mother nature can be deadly

@@Grateful2Exist 😄😄 Yes that is pretty much the purpose of a beach. Serious point though. If you know the beach in question and the water is unusually far out, thats an indicator of an oncoming tsunami.

the waves understand not to pick on you if you're digging for clams

Too bad the politicians make it a terrible place to live and own a business.

@@peanutoreo8052 Democrats are succeeding in making this a third world country.

Portland... mmmmm...

@@jmb1666 Sure, "democrats". Meanwhile it's Trump and the Republicans lying about the pandemic and contributing to 600,000+ deaths, constantly lying about election fraud and inciting an attempt to overthrow the government, imposing unnecessary and unjustified barriers to voting to make it more likely they win, trying to encourage coal-fired power plants (which kill FAR more people than nuclear per power produced even including nuclear accidents), trying to dismantle the EPA, using fearmongering xenophobia to divide the country and build their power, sabotaging the post office, undermining the FCC, stealing supreme court nominations, undermining truth itself... But it's the democrats' fault, sure.

@@JM-bg2leha ha ha

love talking about yourself dont you

If you look closely, there are two small waves going sideways across the beach. This was from a earthquake for sure.

Thomas Tamir true that. I remember well, many years ago, when I was with my cousin in a beach that has no bussines with waves. At all. Yet we took our body boards, which ever JSU recons its very dumb and pointless thing to do. We were just there on the water relaxing, nothing exciting happening. Suddenly we just found ourselves in a washing machine and we ate dirt (sand) as 2 dumb dudes, who turn their back to the ocean, really deserved. Minor scuffs here and there nothing serious. But too serious for that beach. What a lesson that was

Darryl Bonds : what a dork

Yeah. It's reminiscent of a tsunami coming in with the way that it just inundates the entire beach.

Hello from Oregon. Thanks. Oregon does have a stunning coast and the Coast Range mountains are astounding.

Tsunamis make these same waves. They are called tidal waves.

I agree exactly like a tsunami

No. No they aren't. This was only a couple of feet high and was no danger. They aren't unusual. I live beside the sea and was caught by one 2 weeks ago. A tsunami goes for a mile or more inland and destroys buildings. This would destroy a sandcastle but that's about it - thankfully.

@@rock07879 only on extreme cases are tsunamis that destructive. Often times they're little more than 2 feet of water unexpectedly moving 30 feet onto shore

No

The fires out here when COVID started were like: “TOURISTS, GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE BCS COVID!” XD

Because they’re stupid/cowardly or don’t know how to swim

lmao nice one

@@saireygamp62 In this case, one would just have to roll over off of one's belly and be fine. I know sneaker waves CAN be dangerous, but this was not one of those waves.

@@Jaysthename yes but kids and seniors might be at risk for injury just being knocked ooff their feet

@@saireygamp62 Touche'!

@@saireygamp62 off of their sneakers.

That’s a tide, and expected. It comes and goes on a schedule. Sneaker waves come out of the blue. People in Oregon and Washington die every year due to these things.

Which is known as a tidal bore.

Well shit

Cool.

and love to talk about yourself

those weren't sneaker waves, that was extremely high surf, even on small days when waves are shoulder high you'll have a clean up set infrequently that is overhead, 7-8ft face instead of 4 to 5ft face for 5 or 6 waves, even in a set the middle to last wave can be quite a bit larger than the first wave or two on average 10 to 15 percent larger. So when you have a 40ft face a cleanup set could be 50-70ft probably at least once or twice every hour or two which is a large volume of water pushed onto a beach that is already dealing with outflow problems, a true sneaker wave in that context would be 80 to 100 feet at least, caused by a different phenomina which is much rarer the combination or two more waves moving in similar but ultimately different directions that significantly increase the wave height as opposed to doubling up (where one wave breaks inside another wave), somewhat similar to the familiar backwash effect at the wedge in Newport.

@@edwinatollstoy4837 it was on the coast in Newport where I, a desert rat from NM, learned about sneaker waves in 2010. Back then I described it as large waves having a massive love child that overtook the cliff we were standing on. I remember thinking then there wouldn’t be a chance at being rescued if it took us down there. I’ve always been curious if the geographic geometry had something to do with the phenomenon.

wrong. just a larger than average wave. stick to the land, you are spreading bs

These rogue-waves are on to that; they've learned to make dramatic decoy-displays off-shore to draw your attention there while an expeditionary wave of covert infiltrators out-flanks you and attacks from inland! Pretty goddamn sneaky. ( ಠ ͜ʖಠ)

Just Dave, I love your gorgeous dog! Please give him /her lots of hugs and kisses from me, thank you! ❤ 🐕 🐾 ❤ 😚😙😍

+RainAngel111 a wet suit is needed, even in summer. yet i do remember while in college swimming in the ocean near Coos Bay without a wet suit, i must've been nuts. i can't even put my foot in the water now it's too cold.

madskyiv I'm Canadian. From BC, where most of our lakes are glacier-fed. It's not the cold that bothers me, it's the massive waves and unpredictable undercurrents that make it less suited for swimming.

RainAngel111 That's quite stupid. You 'll get frozen as fast as someone from Borneo or Lebanon

Beverly Beach is good in oregon for skimborading I had a great time but then went out to a sand bar thing and a sneaker wave came and I had fallen and it flew over me

Unless you have a wet suit it's never suitable for swimming. Water travels down the coast, north to south. Cold. On the other side of the country it travels up the coast, south to north. Warm

HardlineAthiest : what a dork

Im really sorry nobody has given you any credit here. That was effing funny lol.

I agree. When I was young, we spent a lot of time rock-hounding at the beach. My sister was almost washed out when a sneaker wave caught her at Cape Meares. (It was really too dangerous to be out there with 3 little kids, but we did find a lot of agates.) When I was on vacation in Hawaii with a friend in my late teens, I was standing in the water approximately waist-deep, facing Waikiki. I turned and there was a wave curling over my head. From out of nowhere. Later on, on a trip to Greece, suddenly caught in a sneaker from out of nowhere. We suspected small earthquakes in the last two instances. We didn't feel anything, but had no other explanation.