Was in South Padre for the 4th.. had both my kids (7 & 5) in lifejackets when they wanted to go in the water without me. Saw 8-12 year olds out on the second sand bar with their boogie boards during a red flag... not smart at all. Went out to dive for sand dollars past the second sand bar and the cross shore current was pretty insane.. I'm very comfortable in the water, surf the texas coast, and swim for exercise and I still wore an inflatable belt pack as a precaution. Mother nature does not discrimnate. Rip currents aren't about your capability to swim.. it's about not panicking, can you just float and let it take you, then do you have the cardiovascular ability to swim back in from 50-300 yards..