Our summer lifeguards swung in action from today, with a team of 30 reporting for duty.
The team will be keeping everyone safe across our seven patrolled beaches this summer, along with local volunteer life savers.
Patrols will begin at Jones, North Bombo, Kendalls, Easts, Werri and Seven Mile Beach on Friday 17 December until Monday 30 January.
Beaches will be patrolled from 10am to 6pm, seven days a week.
Surf Beach is already patrolled seven-days-a week.
A reminder that you should not swim at South Bombo Beach, which is one of our most unsafe stretches of coast.
We also ask people using personal water craft, such as jet-skis and kayaks, to remain outside patrolled areas for everyone's safety.
Jet ski users must keep more than 60m from swimmers, surfers and designated swim areas, and at low speed within 200m of the beach.
Our lifeguards will be observing COVID safety measures when on duty, to ensure their safety and the safety of people they come into contact with.
We recommend beach-goers observe social-distancing between groups, using 1.5 metres or a towel length as a guide.
Masks, checking in and other previous restrictions are no longer required by the NSW Government.
The lifeguard team has also reminded everyone of the most important rule when visiting our beaches: no flags means no swimming.
Last season our lifeguards saw a 13 per cent increase in people using our beaches, about 357,000 people in all, due to relaxed COVID-19 restrictions and good weather in late summer and autumn.
More people meant more work with a jump in the workload with 105 rescues (up 62%) and 8425 preventative actions (up 34%).
Our lifeguards operated a total of 421 patrol days in all over the season.
Image: lifeguards Zac McHugh and Jake Willick at Surf Beach on the first day of summer
