Massive swells, high tides gouge out metres of sand from local beaches

Water levels could again reach or exceed the highest tide of the year by at least 0.1 metres this morning's high tide.

This week, swell up to 10 feet and waves of 5-6 metres battered the coastline from Forster to Nambucca Heads in the north with many beaches inundated by surging tides.

Read more: Watch king tide, swell batter coastline lifting shipping container of beer in Qld, covering bridges in NSW

Town Beach copped a pummelling with waves gouging out metres of sand along the southern end of the beach along the Coastal Walk embankment while water surged over the sand dunes at the northern breakwall end and into the reserve carpark.

South at Lake Cathie, sea water is spilling over the sand berm at the lagoon.

At Crescent Head, Killick Beach was flooded with seawater and the holiday park reserve experiencing minor flooding at the high tide.

Three days of hot weather, challenging surf and large crowds at local beaches has resulted in the busiest starts to a new year as Surf Life Saving NSW lifeguards and volunteer lifesavers were faced with a record number of incidents, rescues and preventative actions up and down the coastline.

On January 5, the SLSNSW's State Operations Centre logged 60 incidents through its system, the most ever received in a single day. Of those logged, an unsuccessful CPR attempt at Park Beach in Coffs Harbour was among 197 rescues, 6,923 preventative actions and 24 emergency incidents.

The incident on the state's north coast came after patrol was alerted that a 40-year-old woman was missing and sent an IRB out to search for her. Lifesavers found the woman face down in the water, brought her back to shore and commenced CPR for 45 minutes. She was not able to be revived.

At Lake Innes, a capsized vessel saw a woman and multiple kids left stranded in the water holding onto the hull. Lifeguards, lifesavers and multiple air assets responded and after time all those in the water were rescued and transported to Port Macquarie Hospital.

In all, for the week from Monday, December 27 through to Monday, January 3, inclusive of the public holiday yesterday, 609 rescues were completed. There were also 58 ambulance callouts and 70 emergency incidents.

"What we have seen over the past three days has never been seen before on NSW beaches," Surf Life Saving NSW President, George Shales said.

"The sheer volume of incidents, rescues and preventative actions has shone a light on lifeguards and volunteer lifesavers up and down the coastline and highlighted just how lucky we are to have dedicated, well-resourced individuals looking out for our safety on the beach.

"It's important, though, to remember that we also must look out for our own safety and make smart decisions when we head to the coastline. That begins with choosing to visit a patrolled beach and swimming between the red and yellow flags."

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