Risk Assessment for Recreational Activities in the Coastal Ocean

Abstract

Ocean recreational activities (ORAs), including swimming, surfing, diving, paddleboarding, etc., in global marine areas are becoming increasingly popular. However, there are potential risks in coastal ocean environments. This study aims to establish a framework for assessing the risk according to the joint hazard and vulnerability levels of the ORA environment. Important factors include meteo-ocean conditions, geographic features, biological and chemical characteristics, and records of historical accidents, as well as social, environmental and tourist perceptions. The fuzzy Delphi method (FDM) is used to screen the representative factors, followed by using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) to determine the weight of each factor. The results show that 9 hazard factors and 12 vulnerability factors are dominant. The framework is applied to 307 beaches in Taiwan, and 8% of them are categorized as very high risk and 13% as very low risk for ORAs. A risk map that displays the hazard, vulnerability, and overall risk levels is presented to tourists to provide quick access to risk information.