I watched numerous tourists do this in Cancun from our penthouse rental on vacation. In one case, a full-grown man was swept out approximately 100m and kept get

I watched numerous tourists do this in Cancun from our penthouse rental on vacation. In one case, a full-grown man was swept out approximately 100m and kept getting tugged and dashed by the waves as he fought them. A lifeguard kept whistling to him from shore and motioning to move perpendicular to the current to get back to shore, and he finally did. We also saw lifeguards retrieve a drowned child. They worked on him for about fifteen minutes in front of the parents before stopping, and the ambulance took him away. The beaches were marked with red flags as far as the eye could see, along with signs in English and Spanish clearly indicating that this meant swimming was prohibited, as it was unsafe. Many people paid no heed to the warnings.