A rip-current warning index function, which is estimated from the likelihood of rip current quantified based on numerical simulations under various sea environments and is varied according to real-time buoy-observations, was studied to help protect against rip current accidents at Haeundae beach. For the quantification, the definition of likelihood of rip current, which proposed by Choi et al. (2011, 2012b), was employed and estimated based on Boussinesq modelling. The distribution of likelihood of rip current was evaluated by using various simulations according to scenarios established based on physical quantities(i.e., wave parameters) of buoy-observations. To index the likelihood of rip current, empirical functions were derived based on the distribution and adjusted to observational environments. In this study, the observations from June to September in 2011 at Haeundae beach were applied to the rip-current index functions, and its applications into the real events found based on CCTV images were presented and investigated. In addition, limitations and improvements of the rip-current index function were discussed.