Is it safe to swim at Raouché?

We do not rate individual sites as safe or unsafe — that would be a claim we cannot verify hour by hour. What we can say is that there is no continuously marked swimming zone here, the entry is rocky, and craft traffic shares the water. Check today's sea conditions before you go, and never swim alone.

Where do published Raouché incidents come from?

Only from moderated reports and cited public sources. Nothing is published without review, personal details are kept private, and no operator or individual is named as at fault without evidence.

First case

Raouché / Pigeon Rocks: swimmer safety

Beirut

Raouché is where this campaign started: a rocky Beirut shoreline that people swim off every summer, with boat and jet ski traffic passing through the same water and no nationally marked separation between them. This page is about the rules and the practical safety picture — not about any individual, operator or case.

It is public sea, and people swim there

Lebanese law

Under Decree 4810/1966 this shoreline is public maritime domain. Swimming from the rocks below the corniche is a long-standing public use. Safe Sea Lebanon lists Raouché in its coastal directory as a coastal landmark with an approximate coordinate flagged for review, and does not publish it as a serviced or lifeguarded swimming beach — we do not claim a level of supervision we cannot cite.

What binds boats and jet skis here today

International standard

The same duties as anywhere at sea: a proper lookout at all times and a safe speed for the conditions, under COLREG Rules 5 and 6. Where marks exist, IALA Region A colours apply. What does not exist at Raouché is a continuously marked swimming zone with a separate buoyed corridor for craft — which is precisely the gap the campaign is asking the regulator to close.

What we are asking for at Raouché

Campaign proposal

A marked swimming zone along the swum stretch, buoys no more than 50 m apart, a single buoyed access corridor at least 30 m wide reaching past the 300 m band, 5 knots inside that band, and posted signage in Arabic, English and French with the emergency numbers. Campaign figures, submitted as a proposal — not current Lebanese law.

Sources

Lebanese baseline — Decree 4810/1966

The shore and the sea up to the highest winter wave line are public maritime domain. Public access and swimming are the baseline right any corridor must protect.

Decree 4810/1966 — Lebanese public maritime domain

Safe speed and lookout — COLREGs Rules 5 and 6

The international collision regulations require a proper lookout at all times and a safe speed for the visibility, traffic and proximity of navigational hazards — which includes people in the water.

IMO — Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREG)

Lateral marks — IALA Maritime Buoyage System (Region A)

Lebanon lies in IALA Region A: entering a channel from seaward, port-hand marks are red and starboard-hand marks are green. Every corridor gate in a plan must carry both.

IALA — Maritime Buoyage System (IALA-AISM)

Comparative practice — 300 m shore band at 5 knots (France)

French coastal rules cap all craft at 5 knots inside the 300 m shore band. The campaign uses the same figure as a reference point for Lebanon; it is comparative practice, not Lebanese law.

Légifrance — Code des transports, navigation dans la bande littorale des 300 mètres

Questions

Is it safe to swim at Raouché?: We do not rate individual sites as safe or unsafe — that would be a claim we cannot verify hour by hour. What we can say is that there is no continuously marked swimming zone here, the entry is rocky, and craft traffic shares the water. Check today's sea conditions before you go, and never swim alone.
Where do published Raouché incidents come from?: Only from moderated reports and cited public sources. Nothing is published without review, personal details are kept private, and no operator or individual is named as at fault without evidence.