Abstract: Beach is often the first coastal tourism destination of people, which has important tourism economic value. Rip currents are potential hazard to the visitors who go to the beach, and have caused significant loss of life and property. A rip current hazard assessment method is proposed here based on the beach state model of Masselink and Short (Ω-RTR model, Ω is dimensionless fall velocity, RTR is spring tide range). After collecting morphodynamic parameters (wave parameters, tidal range and sediment grain size) of 51 South China beaches, a preliminary assessment of the rip current hazard was carried out using the Ω-RTR method. Results show that the coast sections of southern Fujian, Shanwei of eastern Guangdong, Yangjiang and Maoming of western Guangdong, eastern and southern Hainan have the highest rip current risk. The evaluation results were compared with remote sensing images and related media reports. Although the results are helpful to select and manage recreational beach locations, more field observations must be taken for a more specific assessment of beach rip current risk hazard.

Key words: rip current, morphodynamic, beach hazard, beach drowning accident