This current is caused when waves strike the beach at an angle. The front part of the wave hits the shallow water first and slows down. The rest of the wave bends as it comes onto the shore creating a current that parallels the beach. Larger waves, which strike the beach less often at greater angles, create stronger longshore currents. In areas where longshore currents often occur, sandbars form.
Rip currents are a potentially dangerous effect of longshore currents.
Rip currents, sometimes called rip tides , can happen when longshore currents, which move parallel to the beach, bounce seaward because of a change in the bottom's structure. Breaks in sandbars are also optimal places for rips to happen. Swimmers need to be careful in areas where rips can occur. A swimmer can be carried out to sea with this flow of water. Swimmers caught in this current should swim parallel to the shore until they are out of the rip current.