Read more: Local, Weather, Dangerous, Weekend, Summer, Grand Strand Beaches, Myrtle Beach, Beach Conditions, Worsen, Rip Currents
Beach patrol officers are keeping people close to shore and telling swimmers that the waves look inviting, but they're not worth the risk.
This could be the most dangerous weekend of the summer on Grand Strand beaches.
Powerful swells kicked up by Hurricane Bill, combined with a new moon, will produce life-threatening rip currents.
It's been a deadly summer so far, with five drownings just in Myrtle Beach alone. Beach patrol officers are keeping people close to shore and telling swimmers that the waves look inviting, but they're not worth the risk.
Wes Cox with Lack's Beach Service says, "We're going to do a lot of preventive lifeguarding today by keeping everybody in close."
But tourists who travel thousands of miles to spend their vacation on the beach, may not want to stay "in close," adds Cox.
"We try to influence them with kindness and just tell them we're out here for their safety, and we're going to do everything we can to make sure people go home tonight."
Rick and Tracy Majka and their two kids, visiting from Pennsylvania, say they're not going to let the red flag conditions ruin their beach vacation.
"We did a lot at the beginning of the week, the kids were boogie boarding and stuff like that so it's not going to bother us."
The National Weather Service calls these big swells, 8 feet or higher, life threatening.
But, at the Village Surf Shoppe in Garden City, those impressive waves just mean good business. Bruce Schaefer said "People just come in, get geared up for the waves."
Schaefer says everyone from first-timers to experienced wave riders are shopping for new boards and supplies and getting ready for a totally awesome weekend.
But beginning surfers are also reminded that what looks like fun, can also be dangerous.
"We just try to stress to them to be careful, be careful out there. Because, I mean, it's so unpredictable when there's big waves, because we get a lot of rip currents, stuff like that," said Schaefer.
Lifeguards say the worst time for rip currents are an hour before and an hour after low tide. That's when they'll be on extra alert for everyone in the water.
