Previously, data on currents has been mapped from 500m offshore and it's expected the new insights will offer a much better understanding of how the rips work at different locations.
"If someone should get swept away in a rip, having the knowledge and understanding of the currents in that particular location will help narrow down the search area," SLSNZ national lifesaving manager Allan Mundy said.
The six-week surveys would involve lifeguards and Coastguard New Zealand personnel deploying and retrieving the drifters, which were designed to replicate a swimmer in a rip.
"Half of the drifters will be modified so they will sink below the water's surface to mimic how a body behaves once it becomes submerged after a drowning," Mundy said.
"This data will be priceless as it will help searchers better identify where to look for lost persons in the benthic current [the current on the bottom of the sea floor] which we don't currently have data on."
Dyes and similar drifters used in the past had only been observed within surface currents, which often flowed in very different directions to the currents on the sea floor.
Annual figures show popular Coromandel destination Hot Water Beach was the scene of the most surf rescues last season, nine more than Whangamata (72) and 12 more than Auckland's notorious Piha (69).