- Rip currents and longshore currents are hazardous because of their ability to physically move water-users to a region of greater hazard.
- The ability water-users to deal with the prevailing rip current hazard depends on:
- Swimming ability (speed and fitness)
- Floatation (e.g. bodyboard)
- Experience (risk of harm increases with decreasing experience and understanding)
- Rip exposure is the likelihood that a bather interacting with the surf would become caught in a rip current.
- Exposure and risk of rip incident are high during small/medium swell waves, when rip currents are still relatively strong water users are still able to interact with manageable surf conditions.