Living on the Ards peninsula has many benefits and none more so than enjoying the therapeutic aspects of taking in the sea air on our beach walks and the relative ease for some of us to take to the water to enjoy sailing, canoeing, jet skiing and swimming to name just a few of the popular water activities.
Cransformers from 2016 down on the beach to burn up a few calories in one of their many challenges
For many of our families with young children and juveniles, the great weather has attracted some of us down to the various local beaches and out into the sea for a paddle or a spell of swimming or body boarding. Exercising in the sea has well known benefits such as:
- Helps to keep the heart rate up but takes some of the impact stress off the body
- Builds endurance, muscle strength and cardiovascular strength
- It burns calories and helps us to maintain a healthy weight, heart and lungs in conjunction with other healthy lifestyle choices
- We get great enjoyment from these open air activities that have additional knock on benefits for mental health and social interaction
- And it’s very affordable
Like all of our environment, there are hazards to be understood and to lower the risk of an unpleasant outcome, we need to be informed, prepared and do some planning. The obvious hazards are:
- Simple accidents like cuts and abrasions from rocks and sharp objects
- Tummy bugs and infections from swimming in contaminated water
- Other users on powered apparatus (wind boards, motorised craft etc)
- Being overwhelmed by sea conditions such as currents, the tide, wind and temperature
- Being unprepared for the day, like applying insufficient sun block, dehydration and eating at the wrong time
In order to enjoy our time at the beach and in the water, please follow the expert advice on the RNLI and RLSS web sites. Being informed, prepared and planning your day will boost your enjoyment of the beach and sea and make a bunch of little and big Crans even happier! Don’t forget that there will be equivalent measures to consider if you are planning activities near open running waterways and lakes. Finally, please adhere to the recent advice promoted by the Ulster GAA and RLSS – encourage everyone to stay out of quarry water!
The RNLI is ‘The charity that saves lives at sea’
The RLSS UK & Ireland is ‘The drowning prevention society’
