The schoolboy at the centre of a remarkable ocean rescue has received a glowing letter from WA’s Premier, as the state’s Police Minister lauded the teen’s “remarkable bravery” and eyes him for a role on the force.

Austin Appelbee, 13, has made international headlines for a “superhuman” four-hour swim through rough surf and a two-kilometre sprint to alert police that his mum and two younger siblings were stranded off the coast of Western Australia’s South West.

His heroic effort sparked a major search which led to his family being found floating in the ocean, 14km from land, about 8.30pm on Friday.

They had been in the water since just after 11am.

“Can I just once again say how proud we are of Austin … a young man who undertook the bravest of acts to save his family,” Premier Roger Cook said on Thursday.

“I wrote to him yesterday to express my admiration for his bravery and my thanks for his love for his family to have swum for four hours to get help for them.

“This is an incredible young man and … I think we should all express our pride and admiration for his bravery.”

‘We could do with good men like you’

Austin had left his mum Joanne and younger siblings Beau, 12, and Grace, 8, to get help after they had battled against conditions to return to the beach.

He initially set off with a kayak but abandoned it in when it took on water, and later ditched his life jacket because, he said, it was impeding his swimming.

Austin said he was “very puffed out”, had been battered by “massive waves” and thought he may have been too late contacting Triple-0.

“I said, ‘I need helicopters, I need planes, I need boats. My family’s out at sea’,” he said.

His mammoth swim, dubbed “superhuman” by local rescue teams, allowed search crews to find his family tired but clinging to a paddleboard off Quindalup, about 2.5 hours south of Perth.

“Austin, remarkable bravery, determination, commitment for such a young man,” WA Police Minister Reece Whitby said.

“So the message for Austin from me and the (Police) Commissioner (Col Blanch), in a couple of years you’ll be invited to join the academy.

“We could do with good young men like you.”

Austin had only recently failed VacSwim, a state-run swimming course, but Royal Life Saving WA chief executive Peter Leaversuch said the teen was clearly capable.

“As instructors and educators, we hope what was communicated to him was that he didn’t fail, it was more that he hadn’t performed all the elements just yet and he needed to continue practising,” Leaversuch told 7NEWS.com.au.

“For us, it’s a journey.

“I accept the irony of it. Clearly he can do it and I’ll be the first to hand him the bronze medallion.

“His heroic act outstrips any performance test.”

It comes as WorkSafe revealed it is making preliminary inquiries with the hotel where the family sourced the watersport recreation gear — two paddleboards and a kayak — before they got into trouble.

The State Government will ask WorkSafe for a briefing, the premier said.

Club Wyndham in Dunsborough told 7NEWS it had launched its own review.

“Our guests are free to use resort equipment on a complimentary basis until late in the day,” it said.

“Our staff had no reason to be alarmed. Guests are aware that the beach is outside the resort grounds, is unpatrolled, and that there is no direct view of the beach from the resort.

“However as a matter of course the resort is conducting a safety review to minimise the risk of any similar incident occurring in the future.”

The incident has also been referred to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.