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Welcome To Panama City Beach, Florida. This section of our site is dedicated to our personal safety while enjoying this magnificent beach.

On this page we will bring you beach and coastal safety warning information.

The Panama City Municipalities have done a fantastic job to keep you safe during your vacation here in Panama City by supplying you with a wealth of beach safety information. Now there is one important thing that they will need you to do for them to help keep you and every member of your family safe while at the beach. Follow their safety warnings and directions of their officers while at the beach. Panama City Beach entertains millions of visitors every year and the number of problems or accidents is minimal. The reason for this is the great job your local government does for all of us here in the Panama City Florida Area. From this writers personal experiences. All is usually smooth and quite fun here on Panama City Beach which tells me the locals are doing their job and we can continue having fun safely.

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Here is a link to the National Weather Service's Florida Weather advisory page published by the Federal Government National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration. Clicking this link will open another window you can X out when done and still be here on your Panama City Sun Site. This page is designed to display significant weather information for Florida.

Here at the Panama City Sun we try to make everything nice and easy for your visit to Panama City, Florida or to offer a helpful guide to the local residents.

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Additional Safety Links of interest here in Panama City are the

The Area Beach Police Department.

Panama City Beach Police

Florida Water, Wildlife & Boating Safety Information.

Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Your Sheriff For Bay County's Web Site.

Bay County Sheriff's Office.

Panama City Beach Area Fire Department Fire Rescue Website

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Panama City Beach, Florida

Beach Safety Tips

Welcome to our Beach Safety Section here in Panama City Beach and we welcome you to make the Beach your Beach too. Play it safe, follow all advisory flags and local weather forecast on beach and water safety. This page is a brief attempt to explain some of the beach safety dangers that exist when we choose to enter Mother Natures Largest Void on the planet Earth, The Ocean. It occupies about 70 percent of the globe and yet so much is still unknown about this vast area of our Earth by the majority of the population.

It would be bad to ruin your vacation here in paradise with a swimming or drowning accident. Try and remember some common sense tips like have somebody watching or swimming with you while you are swimming so you will quickly have help if something happens. (Use the buddy system.) While the Panama City Beach Police & Bay County Sheriff's Department do a fine job of regularly patrolling the beach area, Almost all of this area is without lifeguards and and there are personal inherent risk when you swim in the ocean from drowning, natural environmental risk and sea life. The safety programs offered by individual beach property owners will vary greatly and these are important factors to consider while swimming in the gulf. 

Look out for these flags that should explain the current safety level at the beach where you are visiting. Your Panama City Local Government & Beach Police have done a fantastic job setting up this advisory system. The most important part of this system is an intelligent user of this information in which they have assembled for you to use. That is of course you. This section is intended to educate so that when you see these flags and the signs. You will make wise choices for your Family & your own personal safety while enjoying Panama City Beach.

A Note For Swimming In The Beach, Beware Of Rip Currents. You will see these signs at beach entrances. Below is a little more detailed explanation of exactly how rip currents are formed, how they they work and what this means for you as you join us for a swim in Gulf Of Mexico.

What are Rip Currents you ask ? Rip Currents are narrow in width and powerful moving currents of water flowing away from the shoreline (seaward) at almost any surf beach. These are typically and approximately less than 30 feet wide and extend anywhere from 200 to 2500 feet out. Obviously compared to the size of a person these are quite overwhelming. Rip Currents run at a pretty good speed of around 5 miles an hour or often even faster and are responsible for over 150 lost human lives annually. Rip Currents or sometimes called "Riptides" or "Undertow" are often caused from the moon's gravitational pull and by the shape of the shoreline as water currents flow. Rip Currents begin and typically extend from near the shoreline, through the surf zone and past the line of breaking waves and will hit in a sudden and unexpected manner. If you are brought into it, It will quickly carry you out into the open ocean often along ocean floor causing loss of air, drowning and even death.

Rip Currents will often actually knock you off your feet in shallow water and cause you to fall and even be drawn to the ocean floor bottom and drag you in the current. The major panic and fear in Rip Currents is the unexpected hit and transition that follows. All you know is you are having fun in the water splashing and enjoying the beach and all of the sudden. You become disoriented and are dragged out to sea at what feels like a very high speed. (5 miles an hour is very fast in swimmer's terms.) Rip Currents can occur in any type of weather and on almost any beach. This is another reason to follow the beach advisory warnings and flag system. Unlike heavy surf or crashing waves. You probably will not notice it or feel anything until you are in a rip current. If you feel caught in a rip current, DO NOT PANIC. Panic is one of the number one killers. If you can relax your body, This will often help get you and keep you at the surface rather than being dragged down onto the ocean floor. (This way you get to continue breathing.) To escape the Rip Current just swim parallel to the shore until the current weakens, Since the current is maybe around 30 feet wide but very deep out to sea. Swimming parallel to the shore gets you out of it's outgoing band. Obviously if this happens your next step once escaping the Rip Current is to swim back to shore and maybe look for seashells or build sand castles instead of fighting the Rip Currents for awhile. We are happy to bring you this little survival tip so a Rip Current does not rip up your sunny vacation here in Panama City Beach.

We just threw in this nice photo of your United States Coast Guard working to keep the Gulf Of Mexico safe with their patrol cutter and the Eurocopter H-65 Dolphin Helicopter working hard while you play to keep you safe in the Gulf Of Mexico!

A friendly reminder here from your friends at the PanamaCitySun.com site on boating safety. We know that many take out personal watercraft, boats or go out beyond swimming distance on the beach here in Panama City Beach. The United States Coast Guard requires that you have a Personal Flotation Device (P.F.D. or better known as life preserver or life jacket. You must have these on board for everyone. On smaller craft always wear it) on board of any vessel for every occupant on board. Regardless if you are on a Waverunner, Jetski, Personal Watercraft, Sailboat or whatever you might be enjoying here in P.C. Always, Always adhere to this. In the event of an emergency you will really be glad you did. Of course you are also complying with the law. Do it because it's the smart thing to do. From someone who has grown up around boats and aquatic marine culture. I cannot emphasize this point enough. When you decide to enter Mother nature's most powerful constant natural force. Play it safe, Play it smart because Mother Nature does not hesitate to take back what she sees as her own. You enter her World & you are hers. I was raised with a deep respect of this fact. Don't test it. I have seen too many who did.

We Hope You Have Enjoyed Using Your Fun In The Panama City Sun Source, PanamaCitySun.com and we welcome you to visit the site to see what's new under the Sun For Panama City, Florida.

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