Safety
The flags first. The app second.
RipCo exists to help people read the water before they swim. That only works if we are honest about what the app can and cannot do. This page is our commitment, stated plainly. It is not the fine print. It is the product.
Our commitment
What RipCo will and will not do.
This position was shaped by a structured interview with a Surf Life Saving NSW patrol member at Manly. The commitment below is ours, not theirs, and nothing here is endorsed by Surf Life Saving.
RipCo will never tell you a beach is “safe.”
There is no “safe” verdict anywhere in RipCo. The app shows what it detects and what the conditions are. It never tells you the water is fine to enter, because that is not a call an app can make for you.
It is an aid, not a replacement for judgement.
RipCo adds to what you can see with your own eyes and what the lifeguards tell you. It does not replace either. Use it alongside your own judgement, never instead of it.
Rip currents can appear in calmer-looking water.
A rip can form where the water looks smoothest, and the calmest gap between the waves is often where one is running. A calmer-looking surface is never a sign that the water is fine.
Detection is not perfect.
RipCo can miss a rip, and it can flag something that is not one. A confidence percentage is a reading from a camera, not a promise. Treat every session as though a rip could be present.
Always swim between the red and yellow flags.
The flags mark the patrolled zone, chosen by lifeguards reading the water in person. If there are no flags and no patrol, do not swim. Whatever RipCo shows, the flags come first.
Follow the lifeguards, every time.
If a lifeguard’s instruction differs from anything RipCo shows, follow the lifeguard. They are watching the water in person and they always have the final word.
If it happens
If you are ever caught in a rip.
Keep this simple sequence in mind. It works whether or not you have your phone with you.
-
Stay calm and float. A rip pulls you away from shore, not under the water. Conserve your energy.
-
Do not swim against it. Even strong swimmers tire quickly fighting a current head-on.
-
Swim parallel to the beach until you are out of the channel, then angle back towards shore.
-
Cannot get out? Keep floating, raise one arm and call for help.
Read the water. Respect the flags.
RipCo is coming to the App Store, starting at Manly Beach. Early access opens before launch.
Whatever RipCo shows, swim between the red and yellow flags and follow the lifeguards.