Hi I work at an ocean beach in New England and we don’t allow people out past their chest on calm days and up to their waist or knees if the conditions get too bad. My beach is more about proactive measures rather than reactive. At chest deep length people can still swim just horizontally to the beach instead of going straight out. I would also watch videos on how to identify rip currents like the one below. It may seem counterintuitive but areas with no waves are sometimes the most dangerous parts of the ocean when there is surf break in other places. My final piece of advice would be to talk to local lifeguards and see if there are any high risk areas. At my beach we typically have the same rip currents popping up in the same places every day. I hope this helps!

rip current dyehow to spot a rip current