I believe that Da Nang is aiming for a zero drowning objective or something along those lines because even though the beach is actually super long, you aren't actually allowed to enter the water without a surfboard outside of very specific areas.
This is great and all if you are trying to keep people from drowning, which is admirable, but at the same time this means that most of the beach can't even be used at all, which is lame as hell.
These flags are all over the place and it isn't just because of whatever time of year it happens to be. They are up all the time and there are lifeguards all over the place but their duty doesn't seem to be actually rescuing people in trouble, it seems to be an objective of forcing everyone to swim in only these designated areas.
You can see in the above image that the lifeguard in the yellow and red, isn't even looking at the people in the designated swimming area. For the most part these guys are always looking to the left and right of said swimming areas in order to blow their whistles to call anyone back in that gets even more than ankle deep into the water.
This results in these designated areas being completely filled with people at almost all times. The time that I took this picture doesn't look that crowded and it isn't but that is just because most Asians wait until the sun has almost set before they even get in the water. God forbid anyone get some sort of a tan.
Because of this policy, I haven't even gotten in the water here in the years that I've lived here. I'd like to, but I don't like the idea of being strapped into an area where you are only allowed to go to waist-deep water and have to be running into strangers at all times. Seriously, in peak hours these areas are completely filled like one of those wave pools you see at water parks.
I suppose they are trying to prevent death because yeah, people who can't swim drown every now and then. But doesn't the burden of safety at least to some degree lie on the individual that is putting themselves in a potentially dangerous situation? If you can't swim you really shouldn't be wandering around in the ocean anyway. Also, I think it is very lazy on the part of the lifeguards that they only have to monitor these very limited areas that people are allowed to get into the water.
Surfers and body-boarders are basically allowed to do whatever they want and I guess that is good. Perhaps I will have to learn how to surf so I can avoid the wrath of the boys in yellow and red.
I know I do a lot of griping about Da Nang yet continue to choose to live here. Sometimes I wonder why I bother. I think a move to another part of the country or perhaps the world is in order for me soon.