What to Do: Swimming & Surfing
There are many places to swim around the Redlands and Stradbroke, but the following precautions should be kept in mind:
- Swim only at beaches patrolled by lifesavers / lifeguards and listen to their instructions.
- The red and yellow flags indicate the safest place to swim.
- Take note of what flags are flying and be aware of the conditions.
- The red flag on its own indicates extreme danger so please do not enter the water.
- Always wait before swimming directly after a meal.
- Alcohol may impair judgement so don't swim under the influence of alcohol.
- Should you have a cramp or get into any other difficulty, raise your arm and float.
- If you get caught in a rip, remain calm, raise one arm in the air and float and wait for a lifesaver to help you.
- To escape a rip, swim diagonally across a rip, not against it.
- If you're unsure of the conditions, check with the lifesaver or lifeguard, they are there to help.
- A rip is a strong current running out to sea on a surf beach. It can easily take swimmers from shallow waters up to several hundred metres off shore.