Surf Life Saving (SLS) NSW is helping keep regional and rural kids afloat with their Beach to Bush educational program. 

In the coming weeks, Warren Sterling from the Merriweather Surf Club along with his teammate Louise Lambeth from the Newcastle Surf Club will be traveling through Central West NSW to teach children about the role of lifeguards and the unique dangers of inland waterways as part of the Ingenia Holiday Park Beach to Bush session.

On 4 November, they reached the Nyngan Primary School before traveling to Coonamble, Tooraweenah, and Mendooran in the coming days.

"We have 13 tours this year with our lifesavers meeting students from Old Bonalbo and Mummulgum in the north-west to Tooraweenah in the Central Western Plains and out to Wakool and Finley in the Western Riverina in southern NSW," SLS NSW Community Education manager Anika Ferrari said. 

The Beach to Bush program has been active since 1994 and completed more than 3,500 educational programs. 

Inland waterways bring their own kind of danger with them. 

"Rivers can be fast flowing. Dams can be very cold. Both can have submerged objects. We talk about the types of hazards and we let them think about what things they can throw that float," Mr Sterling said.

 Children learn the importance of swimming between the red and yellow flags. Photo: supplied.

Beach to Bush does not provide children with swim training but encourages them to participate in swim programs. 

"We show a video of how to float and how not to panic when they're in the water." 

The program also educates children about contacting emergency services and how to best reach an adult if they see someone drowning in the water.  

This year marks the 31st time SLS NSW has been traveling through regional and rural towns to educate children about water safety. 

The educators try to match their program with an upcoming event the school has planned. 

"They're either doing a project around marine animals or they might even be planning a trip to the beach," Mr Sterling said. 

"The program itself is designed to have fun."

It offers another way for children to get familiar with water as more and more children do not meet the National Benchmark for swimming and water safety by 12 years old. 

"We tell the kids when they go to the beach to find the red and yellow flags to swim between them, and to look at the signs." 

During their trip to Nyngan, Mr Sterling said he met a family who wouldn't let their children swim along with a dam on the property. 

"Those simple messages are already out there in Australia and all we're doing is just reinforcing that," Mr Sterling said.