POOL TO BEACH PROGRAM

🌊 Pool to Beach – Family Water Safety Weekend

From pool confidence to beach confidence. Together, safely.

Friday 6 November – Sunday 8 November 2026

The Pool to Beach Program is an immersive family weekend designed to help children and their parents/carers build the practical skills, knowledge and confidence needed to enjoy our beaches and bays safely.

Swimming at the beach is very different from swimming in a pool. Waves, currents, tides, changing depths and unfamiliar conditions can present challenges – even for confident pool swimmers. Pool to Beach gives families the opportunity to experience these environments together, supported by experienced instructors and lifesaving professionals.

This isn’t a camp where parents drop the kids off.

Families attend, stay, learn and participate together.

By involving parents and carers alongside their children, the learning continues long after the weekend is over – helping families make safer decisions whenever they return to the beach.

🏖️ What You’ll Experience

Across the weekend, families will take part in a range of practical, engaging activities designed to build confidence and understanding in real beach and bay environments.

Activities include:

• 🌊 Understanding waves, tides, currents and rip currents
• 🚩 Learning where and how to swim safely
• 🛟 Practical surf lifesaving and emergency-response skills
• 🤿 Snorkelling and building confidence in open water
• 🛶 Guided kayaking in calm conditions
• 🪨 Exploring rock pools, coastal environments and marine life
• 🏊 Understanding the important differences between pool and open-water swimming
• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Learning and practising water-safety skills together as a family
• 🔥 Family connection, shared meals and relaxed camp activities

💙 Why Pool to Beach?

Our first Pool to Beach program showed us just how valuable this type of experience can be.
Participants demonstrated significant improvements in understanding rip currents, identifying beach hazards, knowing where and how to swim safely and responding to emergencies. Importantly, they didn’t simply leave feeling more confident – they left with informed confidence, grounded in practical knowledge and experience.
100% of participants in our inaugural program rated their experience 5/5.
Families told us they particularly valued learning together, spending quality time with their children, trying new experiences and connecting with other families.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Who Is This Weekend For?

Pool to Beach is ideal for families who want to feel more knowledgeable and confident around Australia’s beaches and bays.
It may be particularly valuable for:

• Families whose children are confident in a pool but have limited experience in open water
• Families who want to better understand beach and ocean safety
• New Australians and families who may be unfamiliar with Australian beach conditions
• Parents and carers who want practical knowledge to help keep their children safe around the water
• Families who would simply like to build their skills and confidence together
  Pool ability swimming required. No prior ocean experience is required.
  Activities are supportive and designed to allow participants to build confidence at their own pace. The program specifically encourages participation without forcing it, with conditions assessed and participants supported according to confidence and ability.

📅 Weekend Details

Dates: Friday 6 November – Sunday 8 November 2026
Duration: Friday 4:30pm- Sunday 3pm
Location: The Portsea Camp, 3704 Point Nepean Road, Portsea
Capacity: Strictly limited to 24 families

TICKETS:

All family tickets include accommodation, meals and the full Pool to Beach weekend program.

FLEXIBLE FAMILY BOOKINGS
Family tickets are based on the total number of family members attending, giving families flexibility in how they book.
For example, a Family of 4 ticket can include
1 adult + 3 children
2 adults + 2 children
The same flexibility applies across all Family of 2, Family of 3 and Family of 4 tickets. (Children under 5 attend free)

FAMILY SCHOLARSHIP TICKETS

12 tickets available
$200 per family
Available for families of 2–4 people, regardless of the combination of parents/carers and children attending.
These subsidised tickets are available to help make the Pool to Beach experience accessible to more families.
Please complete a scholarship application via the link below ensuring that you include all family members and we will be in touch shortly after.

APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIP HERE

EARLY BIRD FAMILY TICKETS

8 tickets available
Family of 2 – $550
Family of 3 – $675
Family of 4 – $895
Early Bird tickets are strictly limited and are available until sold out.

FULL FEE FAMILY TICKETS

4 tickets available
Family of 2 – $580
Family of 3 – $750
Family of 4 – $995

FAMILIES OF MORE THAN 4
Families with more than 4 people are welcome.
Additional family members can be added for $100 per person.
For example, a family of 5 would purchase the appropriate Family of 4 ticket and add 1 additional family member for $100.
*Children under 5 attend free

WHAT’S INCLUDED?
• Private ensuite Accommodation at The Portsea Camp
• All meals throughout the weekend
• Pool to Beach activities and experiences
• A full weekend program for the whole family

🛟 Safety & Parent/Carer Supervision
Safety is at the heart of Pool to Beach.
Water-based activities are led and supervised by experienced instructors and Portsea Surf Lifesaving professionals, with activities adapted to participants’ confidence, ability and the conditions on the day. Safety equipment and water-based activity gear are provided where required.
As this is a family participation program, parents and carers remain responsible for the supervision and care of their children throughout the weekend, including outside scheduled activities.
During facilitated water activities, our team will provide activity instruction, water-safety supervision and support; however, parents/carers must remain actively engaged in supervising their own children at all times.

🌟 More Than Water Safety
Pool to Beach is about much more than learning a set of rules.
It’s about families developing a shared understanding of the water, recognising risks, knowing when and how to ask for help, trying new experiences together and creating positive memories along the way.
Our inaugural program showed that families can build confidence without losing respect for the ocean – replacing uncertainty or overconfidence with knowledge, practical experience and safer decision-making.

From pool confidence to beach confidence. Together, safely.

🌊 Ready to join us?
Places are strictly limited to 24 families, including only 12 Scholarship places and 8 Early Bird places.

Book your family’s Pool to Beach weekend today.