Understanding the flags: beach safety with your caravanning family
We were recently staying at Lennox Head Holiday Park North Coast and found ourselves at Lennox Beach having a great play with the kids. As with small children our daughter Ashlee started asking me questions about the lifeguards flags. (Lots of questions – help!!!) Like most Australians I understood that the yellow and red flags indicated a safe area to swim between but… heck, the rest – she had me stumped!
On return back to the van that night I got on the ipad and researched the rest of the flags so I could answer her bazillion questions the next morning. In my googling I found this great resource I thought our Caravanning with Kids friends might also appreciate…
You can see this great resource above in its original online home at the Surf Life Saving website as well as many other great articles, tips and info.
The Black and White flag stumped us too…
Black & White Flag = NO Surfers
It makes sense that where lots of people are swimming in the water, surfers aren’t allowed to speed through the break and possibly hit them! That’s why lifeguards put up black and white quartered flags on each side of the red and yellow flags, which indicates the surfcraft exclusion zone. So if you’re surfing, steer clear of the red and yellow flags!
If you’re interested in talking to your children about rips and identifying rips in plain language you might also like to check out my blog post here.
Safe swimming everyone!
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