Families are heading to beaches, pools and lakes this holiday, so it’s a good time to remind everyone of essential water safety tips for families. According to AAA Travel, Florida is the top choice for a spring break destination, due to its warm weather, pools, beaches, outdoor adventures, and cruise ports.
Spring Breakers say “Take Me to the Water”
Findings agree with those of a recent Allianz Partners’ survey which analyzed more than 3.4 million flight itineraries insured by Allianz Travel Insurance. Allianz found that 76% of spring break itineraries are for domestic travel and 24% are for international trips. The top 10 destinations for the three-quarters of Americans traveling domestically include five in Florida.
Allianz also found that, other than London, the top 10 international destinations for the 2024 spring break are tropical or Caribbean islands. Whether you are planning a cruise with kids, a theme park adventure, or heading anywhere with myriad swimming opportunities, these water safety tips are timely, too.
Six Important Tips: Swimming Safety for Kids
“Spring break is a wonderful time for families to have fun and relax by the water,” Chris DeJong, a five-time U.S. National Champion swimmer, says.
Thanks to him and the Big Blue Swim School for providing guidance and essential swim safety tips for the whole family. Big Blue was founded in 2009 by DeJong, and now has 30 pools offering instruction, with more to come across the U.S.
They have lots of experience in keeping swimmers safe and share their six top water safety tips for families.
1. Lifeguards are not babysitters.
Even with this important safety system in place at pools or beaches, adult supervision of their own children around water is essential.
2. Make yourself familiar with your destination’s pool or beach.
Get to know the pool and beach area where you are staying. Understand what safety measures are in place such as locked gates, fences, and other barriers.
3. Assign a Water Watcher to monitor everyone in the pool.
One essential water safety tip for families is to make someone a Water Watcher. This is an adult in your group who keeps a close eye on swimmers. Big Blue recommends rotating the Water Watcher every 30 minutes to avoid supervision fatigue.
4. Wear a life jacket around water.
Don’t have children wear just any life jacket. A properly fitting life jacket fits snug, is approved by the U.S. Coast Guard, and stays under a child’s chin when they lift their arms overhead.
5. Implement the buddy system.
Even if your child is a proficient swimmer or wearing a life jacket, drowning can still happen. All children swimming in water should be assigned a buddy to swim with who can raise the alarm if something seems off.
6. Prepare young swimmers to enjoy the water.
In addition to following our children’s water safety tips for famililes, prepare by enrolling everyone in formal swim lessons. The CDC notes that formal swim lessons reduce drowning by 88%. That makes year-round, formal swim lessons the best way to help a child be ready around the water.
Encourage water safety and promote a lifelong love of swimming
“Drowning isn’t always obvious,” Dejong adds. “Someone struggling may not yell for help, wave their arms, or thrash around. Constant, careful supervision is critical while children are near the water.”
Why not check your area for local swim schools and get the kids started right? Proper schooling in the swimming arts is just the first step to ensuring water safety for families.
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Grt place to visit.. This place is located after entering the Ranthambore National Park.. However, to visit this place u can evn get your own vehicle…
John, glad you liked the story. This park is in Ohio where the weather can be unpredictable! It’s warmest between late April and November, but even April has the risk of some snow. If you’re camping with kids, the safest bet is June to August, because it’s warmer and there’s little rain. Enjoy your trip.
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It’s truly magical being there. I love the art this country offers. Their wall arts and crafts are just lovely.
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You always share to the world with something new and different destinations. Thank you so much for sharing.
The history of Cuhahoga valley national park seems interesting and must be a new experience when we observe scenes of National park from their scenic campgrounds.
which season do you think is the best time to visit this national park?
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Wow, what a nice article. Makes you feel like you should pack up and go immediately. It seems Linblad runs a good operation and trips are kid friendly. Is there a list of particular dates that are family friendly or are there kid activities year round on board the boats. Any other advice on travling with kids to Ecuador and Galapagos would be really welcome.
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Hello Michael, glad to hear your family is interested in a dude ranch holiday.
Since your kids are older and, hopefully, everyone in the family rides, you have lots of options. The Dude Ranchers Association is a really helpful resource in sorting through the many types of ranch vacations. For example, you can go here: https://duderanch.org/by-activity-amenity and search for ‘Advanced Rides’ and “Cattle Drives’ and that would get you some real working ranches that would have more of the lifestyle you seem to be looking for. One of our authors recommends the Hideout in Shell, Wyoming for this type of trip.
Looking for a real ranch experience with horseback riding (lots of it) and time in the open air with my son (15) and daughter (12) and my wife (49). I am 62. We live in NJ, my children have been sheltered but I grew up in a small coal mining town in Pennsylvania. I want my children to see another side of life.
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Great destinations for First Night and New Year’s Eve! Check out our favourite ones in Europe: https://tapsy.blog/?s=new+year%27s+eve
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Of course, you can do travel freely and easily through these two countries yourself, but I enjoyed having the trip curated for me, including well-chosen local guides, comfortable transportation on call and some superb private tours, such as a Khmer cooking class or historic walking tour of Saigon, with flexibility in the itinerary for our group of five to follow their own paths, such as making an emotional detour to the moving Genocide Museum housed in the old S-21 jail in Phnom Penh.
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For Richard re: dual citizenship US-Nicaragua… can I use the same to travel back to Nicaragua with the same Power of Attorney (Specific to Minors) since wife is staying back in Nicaragua to keep eyes on the house.
Hi Richard, In our travel experience, this type of document should work well for your travels, but if your wife is available, it can’t hurt to download the sample forms we have online and also have her fill out and notarize one for your trip with your child. The agency responsible in your case will be the carrier — we assume an airline — and if they can make a note in your travel record that they have approved the Nicaraguan documents you should be fine on both departing and entering.
Safe Travels!
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very informative article Travel forums provide first hand experience and advice to travelers and are a great source of information and travel tips.
As a signal parent, your life, world, actions are based on your childs well fair. Not your happiness or anything that has to do with you.
It should list where they are going, the dates that they are allowed to go and grant your permission for that trip. You want to include your address and phone number and probably the contact info for the adult traveling as well.
The grand archways and the paintings of Lord Krishna and his cows are a visual treat. Wander through areas opened for tourists and you shall witness the impressive aura and architecture of the Royal state of Rajasthan.
Thanks for Sharing
Hello guys my wife and I have dual citizenship US-Nicaragua, I’m planning to travel to the US with our son also dual citizenship for 3 weeks, with a Power of Attorney (Specific to Minors) from Nicaragua, can I use the same to travel back to Nicaragua with the same Power of Attorney (Specific to Minors) since wife is staying back in Nicaragua to keep eyes on the house.
Congratulations to the winners! A question to all the professional travelers here, how are you planning the route ant the places to see while visiting a new country? As for me I just google the most touristic and popular places. It works mostly, but there were a few times when I realized that I have seen only some the places this country or city is famous for, and that’s sad. On my last trip to Armenia, I decided to take a tour and it was quite productive. It’s much more informative when somebody is telling you history and some interesting facts. If someone wants to save their time – make sure to ask them to help if you’ll ever be there.
Curitiba é uma lugar lindo, além de ser considerada uma das melhores cidades para se morar em Brasil.
Realmente a muito o que conhecer por lá, como também diversas outras belezas do nosso brasil.
Principalmente as praias do Brasil que são muito procurada por inúmeros turistas internacionais e nacionais.
As Praias do Litoral Paulista, divididos entre Praias do Litoral Norte e Litoral Sul.
As mais conhecidas são as Praias de Ubatuba com mais de 100 belas praias no litoral norte paulista.
Já no litoral sul, a região mais procurada são as Praias de Guarujá, a região conta com 23 praias de pura beleza e preservação ambiental.
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Mahalo,
Sharon Hackleman
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Was an honour and pleasure to host you both in the Maori Whakata/Welcome to Wanaka. Welcome back anytime to this wonderful part of the world.
Kia Kaha/Stay strong
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