The Basics

For new folks: we are FREE. Our swims start and end in the same place. 99% of the time, that’s Tower 9 in HB. But, do not plug that into your GPS. There are 2 Tower 9s in HB. So, check location here.

Tower 9 View From Buoy — View of Tower 9 from the buoy

If you’re new, check parking here. That’s the biggest hindrance. Parking can be tight here in Huntington Beach as there are events often from spring to fall. Just be aware that finding parking can take longer to find than anticipated.

This covers the mechanics of the swim along with the gear you’ll want to bring.

Another post will elaborate about swim types.

Minimum Swim Standards

You must be able to swim 300 yards without stopping within 7 minutes. Next, you must be able to swim 1000 yards in 22 minutes. For this, you can stop and tread water, if you must. The 1000 yards must be covered in 22 minutes, including any rest time. Lastly, you must be able to tread water for 5 minutes continuously.

You can use fins to make the swim times. If you must use fins in the pool to make the swim times, be sure to use fins when you swim with us in the ocean.

Why these standards? It can take up to 300 yards of swimming to swim beyond the breakers. If you’re unfamiliar with the ocean and you are not yet proficient with your duck dives, the strength of the waves can push you back to shore. When that happens, you could be in a treadmill position right where the waves keep breaking. This is why you want to be sure you can swim 300 yards within 7 minutes. Use fins if you must. We’re fin-friendly.

Also, our shortest swims usually cover at least 1000 yards. If you’re comfortable swimming 1000 yards or more in a pool within 22 minutes, you should be ok. Preferably, you can swim closer to 2000 yards in less than 40 minutes. That way, you’ll have the confidence to join our longer swims.

Basically, the faster swimmer you are with better endurance, the more confidence you’ll generally have when swimming in the ocean with us.

The Cold of the Ocean

Water temp can vary from 52/54 F in February to 65/70 F in August/September. For the uninitiated, the cold water can be a shock to their system. Be prepared.

As you enter, if you’re unfamiliar with the ocean, the cold feeling could raise your anxiety level and even have you questioning your life choices if you’re trunking it in the dead of winter. Don’t worry overly much about this. Your body will adapt and turn on an internal furnace. However, it takes about 5-7 minutes for this to happen. Meanwhile, if it’s below 60 F, you might also feel an ice cream headache at first. This will likely subside in 5-10 minutes depending on other weather conditions and if you have neoprene on your head.

To Counteract the Cold

First, warm yourself from the inside out. That’s the best open water swim advice I’ve ever heard. A veteran English Channel swimmer on her vlog mentioned that hot fluids before, during (if possible), and after your swim are the most important factors of maintaining body heat. So, definitely bring a thermos with a hot beverage all the way to Tower 9. You can drink it right after exiting the water. This helps your body to warm up a bit.

If the water is below 60 F and you’re trunking it, drinking a hot beverage will help offset mild hypothermia or even just shivering. For your first ocean swim with us, make it not happen in February. That way, your body will be able to acclimate to the cold.

Shuffle In and Out

Or, Shuffle and Stomp

When you enter the water, if you want to avoid stingray stings, be sure to shuffle your feet. Think of keeping your feet on the sand as you enter the water. Keep stepping forward with your feet still keeping on the sand. Visualize yourself doing a forward moonwalk. That way, stingrays are well aware of your presence and can depart before getting stepped on before it’s too late. You can even stomp your heel to make vibrations once your front foot is planted. This can help alert stingrays to your presence. Another strategy is to enter directly behind another swimmer. This might help, too.

You’ll also want to take care as you exit the water. Not only by shuffling, but also by keeping your eyes on oncoming waves. Like the Hawaiians say: Never turn your back on the ocean.

Stagger for Shorebreak

OK. Some other points about entry. If there are shorebreak waves, which there often are, enter the water with a boxer/wrestler/staggered stance. Basically, with your front shoulder towards the wave, perpendicular to the force of the water. That way, you are presenting less surface area to the wave so as to minimize the force of impact. You can keep shuffling forward until you’re in water as deep as your waist. At that point, you can start swimming. Some prefer to keep walking until they’re about neck deep in the water or the waves force them to swim. Whatever you choose is fine. We just want you to enter the water any way you can and not fall over.

GEAR

Second, here is the gear you’ll want to have to protect against the cold and other elements, in decreasing order of importance:

Hot Beverage (Highly Recommended)

We already discussed this

Earplugs (Highly Recommended)

Not just to protect against swimmer’s ear, but, worse, surfer’s ear. Google it and you’ll almost always wear earplugs in the ocean. Don’t worry, as you can still hear most everything while wearing earplugs designed for swimming. They’re more to block the water than the sound. And the cold.

Version 1.0.0 — Mack’s AquaBlock Earplugs

Mack’s AquaBlocks work well. So, too, do the silicone earplugs. They’re inexpensive and work wonders. Find out what works for you.

Bright-colored Swim Cap (Highly Recommended)

Bright-colored swim cap so you are more easily seen by swimmers, surfers, and lifeguards. Even neon caps can help. The silicone caps are more durable and retain heat better than latex.

Either way, you can buy a swim cap online or in person at stores such as Sports Basement, Competitive Aquatic Supply, etc.

Swimsuit

Yes. You can doff your suit mid swim. But, I believe there are laws governing indecent exposure on land. Just wear something on land. That’s all we ask.

Neoprene headband under a silicone cap (Optional)

If it’s cold, wear a neoprene headband beneath your silicone cap. This is the best way to keep warm in the ocean other than drinking hot fluids. Two swim caps or a swim cap with neoprene headband is quite helpful in the cold. Yes, a wetsuit would help, too. But, I believe a warm head is more important.

Orca makes a good neoprene headband that can accommodate chuckleheads. Their headband connects with velcro closures and easily fits under a cap.

If you want a neoprene headband with a better design that is more comfortable, you can opt for the Blue70 headband. It is wider and features a comfortable fabric lining. If my head were smaller in circumference, I’d choose the BlueSeventy headband. It’s probably good for heads with a hat size of 7 ¼ and smaller. You can buy it on Amazon, BlueSeventy.com, or justwetsuits.com

As for the neoprene headbands with chin straps, they can work, too. They could cause chafing under your chin, so keep that in mind.

Goggles (Optional)

I’d guess fewer than half of us wear goggles. You can wear what works for you. If you don’t have perfect vision, you can choose optical goggles. Sporti, the house brand for swimoutlet.com, makes optical goggles for about $15. I can see better with them than some of my glasses. They come in integer diopters …-4,-3,-2,…+2,+3… And, if your eyes have different diopters, you can buy 2 pairs and mix and match.

There are also swim masks and open water swim goggles, both of which cover more of your face. Swimmers have used these as well. The open water swim goggles (provide link) offer you a greater field of vision. That makes it easier to sight while swimming. For this same reason – greater field of vision – many swimmers opt for no goggles.

The type of goggles is also dependent on sunlight. For low light, clear or smoky lenses work well. In the middle of summer, with abundant and strong light, you’ll probably want mirrored lenses. Again, this is a personal choice.

Fins (Optional)

If you’re not already a strong swimmer (1:30/100 yards cruising speed [or better] for 1,000 yards), you might want to wear fins. They’re your best speed boost.

Two bits of advice if you plan to wear fins for open water swimming: A. Choose short-blade fins. Long-blade fins are designed for other activities (read: if you kick with fins 1-2 meters long ~~you could cramp up, drown, and die~~ you might not enjoy your swim as much )

B. If you do want to wear fins, be sure to swim with them at least 2 times in the pool beforehand. You’ll want to adjust to swimming with fins for 1,000 yards so that your body is ready for it in the ocean.

Swim Buoy or Tow Float (Optional)

These brightly-colored inflatable floats are a great idea. Just check Surfline or Surf-Forecast. If the waves are forecast for 5’+, reconsider using a swim buoy that day. In fact, 5’ waves are taller are good to avoid for your first swim. Tow floats can be a liability in high surf. Don’t worry, 80% of the time, waves in HB are 4’ or lower.

Wetsuit – open water or triathlon wetsuit (Optional)

If you can, purchase a swim or tri wetsuit over a surfing wetsuit. Unfortunately, you can usually buy open water or triathlon wetsuits only online. However, most companies have very good height/weight charts. For an in-person experience of trying on wetsuits, you can shop at Sports Basement. They have a location in Fountain Valley and plan to open a store in Long Beach in fall/winter 2024. They have enough of a selection to get you started. Or, at least to know which size you wear in Blue70. It’s a good brand of wetsuits.

Swimoutlet.com is where I bought my first wetsuits. They have a great return policy. Since Covid, though, they seem to have carried fewer and fewer wetsuit brands. So, you can check out justwetsuits.com. They also have a good return policy.

As for brands, I’ve had good luck with both Orca and BlueSeventy. Many of my fellow swimmers and triathletes have raved about Roka. And if you have money to burn, check out Deboer. If you see me wearing one, my financial situation has improved…a lot.

Regarding swimming wetsuit styles, it’s a personal thing. The coldest water I’ve experienced in Socal has been 52 F. Most entry-level suits are good at that range. Once the water is about 60, you should be fine with a shorty suit, with short sleeves and shorter legs.

This is a bit of a personal thing. The more you acclimate to ocean swimming, the less you’ll feel the need for a wetsuit. Also, wind, air temp, and sunshine have a bigger factor on feeling the cold than you think. I’ll address this in another blog post. The leaner you are, the more you will generally feel the cold of the water. Acclimation can help, but bodyfat probably helps even more.

*If you swam in high school or college: you’ll probably want a sleeveless wetsuit. For you, shoulder mobility (ROM) is probably more important than buoyancy. The torso and legs of the wetsuit are enough to keep most swimmers warm even in 52 to 54 F water. Just make sure you wear a cap, too.

Body Glide (Optional)

This can help prevent chafing. The neck of your wetsuit could cause irritation. For some swimmers, they even experience friction in the armpit region of their wetsuit. Body Glide works well for this. And you can find it at A Snail’s Pace Running Store in Fountain Valley, REI stores, or Sports Basement in FV. Or online at Amazon or Swimoutlet.com

Many folks tend to think petroleum jelly is a good idea, but it tends to degrade neoprene. So, if you need to prevent chafing, BodyGlide or some other similar lubricant will work better.

Sunscreen (Optional)

The back of your neck is most exposed. That’s the first place for sunscreen. After that, it’s your face, your hands, and your legs. Badger is a thick sunscreen I wear and it has helped me a lot. It’s reef-safe and available at Whole Foods.

If you have fair skin and don’t want to wear sunscreen, there are options. Just come to a swim and look at me. I wear sunscreen only on my face. The rest of my body is covered up by fabric.

Start Here 2024, Part 1