More than a million sun-lovers will feel the sand beneath their feet at Lake Macquarie beaches in coming months as the patrolled season gets underway.
Lake Macquarie City Council lifeguards will resume 9am-5pm patrols of Redhead, Blacksmiths, Caves and Catherine Hill Bay beaches from Saturday, coinciding with the start of the school holidays.
Simultaneously, Speers Point and Swansea swim centres will reopen after their winter shutdown, with an estimated 150,000 visitors expected across the two venues in the 2025-2026 season.
Team Leader Beach Lifeguards Hayden Copping said Council's 30 full-time and casual beach lifeguards had been undergoing intensive refresher training over the past two weeks to prepare them for the peak season.
"Year-to-year, our core mission always remains the same: to keep the public safe when they head to Lake Mac beaches," he said.
"But it's crucial we keep track of the latest training and tactics to ensure we maintain world-best practice as professional lifeguards."
Training modules have included jet-ski and board rescues, beach vehicle manoeuvres and beach first aid.
Lake Macquarie Mayor Adam Shultz urged beachgoers to swim between the flags and use common sense.
"We'll have some of the best lifeguards in the world watching over our amazing coastline for the next six months," he said.
"They have an enviable record for keeping thousands of people safe at the beach every week, but they need the public to do the right thing."
It could be a busy start to the season right along the city's coast, with summer-like temperatures of 28C and 27C predicted for Saturday and Sunday respectively.
"It's looking like a nice offshore breeze and 1.1m swell on Saturday morning, so there should be something for both swimmers and board riders," Mr Copping said.
"The water temperature is also starting to warm up and is currently at about 19.5C."
Almost 900,000 people visited Lake Macquarie beaches in the 2024-2025 season.
Caves Beach and Redhead were the city's most popular stretches of coast, each attracting 250,000 visitors.
Those numbers were slightly lower than expected due to large numbers of bluebottles and beach closures triggered by dangerous swells.
From Saturday, Speers Point Swim Centre will open at 7am daily, while Swansea Swim Centre will open at 6am.
Swim centres across the city will host the 'Aquatic Challenger' inflatable obstacle course during the school holidays, along with intensive Learn to Swim courses.
Lifeguards will supervise patrolled beaches daily until the 2026 April school holidays.
Go to lakemac.com.au
