The ocean level is constantly changing and there are many different forcing functions. Today, we realize that a rise in one area may, in fact, correspond to a fall in another area. A number of problems or pit-falls in sea level analyses are highlighted; viz, the significance of shore morphology, the multiple possible causes of coastal erosion, the necessity to consider cyclic changes, not least the 18.6 tidal cycle and its relation to our tide-gauge records, the effects of redistribution of ocean water masses, the problems with many sea level curves based solely on isolation levels, and the problems of transferring time/depth graphs into rates of sedimentation and sea level rise without having investigated and calibrated for ongoing consolidation in the top-part of the sediment sequence; i.e. the zone of active compaction. Therefore, the necessity of multi-parameter analyses is strongly proposed. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.