September 2010 (ROTM #21) Shelly Beach, Central Coast, NSW Australia

This is the best picture of rip currents I've ever seen. It has been kindly provided to me by Wyong Shire Council, more specifically, Allan Cooke who runs the lifeguard service there. Obviously it's taken from a plane, and you don't often get to spot rips from the air, but it really shows that the higher you are looking down on a beach, the easier they are to spot. Some pretty stunning channelised rip currents (dark gaps) heading offshore. Four of them to be exact. Note that there is a small one near the rocks on the right which is similar to the scenario in ROTM#2.

 Allan showed some good initiative hiring a plane to take shots of local beaches and rips which were later included on information signs on the beaches themselves.

It always helps being in a plane when it comes to spotting rips