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I don't recommend anybody getting into ocean water more than waist high unless they are a very confident swimmer, have the ability to float on their back for hours, and understand how rip current work.

Just having the ability to float will give you confidence in water well over your head and get you out of a tight spot should you get caught in a rip current. For even if you are not able to get out of it by swimming parallel to shore (some rip currents are over a hundred feet wide), just floating will allow you to eventually escape the pull of the current. Riptides peter out offshore once you get past the area of breaking waves.

Suprisingly, many swimmers have never learned to float properly and thus panic when they find themselves over their heads and being pulled out to sea. They feel they need to swim themselves out of danger when they need only to float, reserving their strength for later.