If your summer plans include a family beach vacation, then there are a few things to know before you run into those waves. Before you embark on your trip, do a few checks first. Call the hotel or property where you're staying and inquire whether or not lifeguards are employed on the beaches. If not, and you have inexperienced ocean swimmers in your family, then you may want to stick with pools for swimming and the beach for just building castles. Another check to make before you leave is the water quality. Pollution and sewage does affect the shore, and that can make for an unpleasant vacation if you get some sort of bug. Water is tested fairly infrequently, however, so swimming in the ocean is pretty much at your own risk. The ocean obviously is less safer to swim in than a pool for many reasons.