Top Five Most Deadly Places to Swim in the World
Our planet is wild place. At times stranger than fiction. Despite this immense beauty and danger, certain adrenalin junkies will risk everything just for a dip in a dangerous stretch of water. Here are some of the most deadly places in the world to swim. You can follow suit, so long as you don’t value your life too highly!
1. Frying Pan Lake, Rotorua, New Zealand
Frying Pan Lake is a geological wonder that perched atop the Waimangu Volcanic Rift. The earth beneath the lake is simmering and shifting, always fomenting on the edge of an eruption. When Mount Tarawera erupted nearby in 1886, there was extensive knock-on effects in the nearby areas. Hundreds of people were killed and the village destroyed. Pretty terrace houses were engulfed in lava. Out of this geological event came the world’s largest hot springs, the aptly named Frying Pan Lake. An enormous 38,000m square hot spring lake with water between 50-60°. Although shallow in parts, the boiling hot centre plunges 20 metres into the ground, into the molten crust below.
Frying Pan Lake is so hot that you will feel the radiant heat as you walk within 100 metres of the lake. If you want to be cooked like a roast dinner – by all means jump in.
2. Niagara Falls, Ontario
Arguably the most famous waterfalls in the world. To give you some idea of the majestic power of this gorge – after rain approximately 168,000 cubic metres of water falls over the crest line every minute. Niagara has been subject of plenty of films, literature and legendary stunts. A Michigan school teacher Annie Taylor was the first person who braved Niagara Falls and lived to tell the tale in 1901. She went over in a barrel and survived with only cuts and bruises,. Afterwards she famously said “No one ought ever do that again.” Although it seems that this actually spurred on more attempts than stopped them. Sadly between 1850 and 2011 an estimated 5,000 people died at the foot of the falls. Kids – don’t try this one when you’re travelling!
Here is the fearless (or idiotic) Nick Wallenda, serial tight-rope artist and publicity seeker, walking across Niagara Falls without a harness in 2012.
3. Lake Victoria, Africa
The stunning Lake Victoria straddles three countries – Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania and stretches for an extraordinary 70,000 kilometres. It’s the chief reservoir for the Nile and supplies freshwater to the local community. Although probably not as well known worldwide is the estimated 5,000 deaths reported on the lake each year.
According to Ugandan Meteorologist Khalid Muwembe, it’s ”because the lake is generally warm and has a lot of moisture. We find that it generates a convective potential energy, which generates a lot of cloudiness and heavy thunderstorms. This can be incredibly dangerous.”
The lake also has unpredictable deep parts, plus violent storms and current changes can take swimmers and fishermen by surprise.
Lake Victoria seems peaceful but it’s really just the calm before the storm….
4. Shired Island, Florida, USA
Shired Island in Florida has the nefarious reputation of being America’s most polluted beach. The storm run off from inland farms, local industry and storm drains mean that Shired Island has consistently failed on all water tests in the past couple of years. The Gulf Stream makes water flow southward through a dead zone of pollution that leaks out into the ocean. If want to avoid pink eye, gastritis and hepatitis then it’s wise to take a dip somewhere else.
5. The Beach of the Dead, Oxaca, Mexico.
Known also as Playa Zipolite, in the local Zapotec language this means ‘The Beach of the Dead’. Although seemingly innocuous and devastatingly beautiful, this beach has a powerful undertow and rip current that changes according to the lunar patterns and the weather. This makes the water incredibly unpredictable. If you’re lucky, you may be taken in a gigantic circular pattern back onto the beach. Otherwise you’ll be taken deep into the ocean and disappear forever. Even the most seasoned surfers have been known to just disappear without a trace.
Sufficiently creeped out? Well Evoheat hope that you avoid these dodgy holiday destinations and instead seek out the purest water, calmest bodies of water on the planet.
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