Yesterday, a man died after he got into trouble in the water at Anchor Bay, north of Auckland, about 2pm.
Nationally, 12 people drowned around the country in the last 11 days — including two men who attempted nearly identical water rescues at Glenorchy, less than a week apart.
St Clair Surf Life Saving Club president Cam Burrow said there were more people at the beach due to summer weather.
Dunedin lifeguards had undertaken several rescues in the past week, including for people stuck in rips, Mr Burrow said.
People had been tending to go to the beach after dinner, when the wind died down.
However, lifeguards were only rostered on until 7pm and unpatrolled beaches like Tomahawk and Ocean View were "high risk", Mr Burrow said.
"There's been a lot more people interested in talking to us, asking about rips and where to safely swim. So you can see the increase in safety awareness; it's just hard when our lifeguards aren't there — that's when people seem to get in a bit of trouble."
He encouraged swimmers to know their limits. If people saw someone in trouble, they should call 111 and not attempt a rescue if they were not confident in their abilities.
He also urged would-be rescuers to use a flotation device of some sort.
"We really don't want any more rescuers getting in trouble — its been been really sad over the last couple of weeks to see some of those rescuers drowning," Mr Burrow said.
Brighton Surf Life Saving Club president Rebecca Aburn said the beach was busier than it had been in years and lifeguards had been doing a lot of preventive work.
"We don’t want people to get in trouble and us have to go and get them," Ms Aburn said.
She encouraged people to always swim between the flags on patrolled beaches, and if they did get caught in a rip, follow the three Rs — relax and float, raise your hand and ride out the rip.
Beach users should check the Safeswim website, and get lessons if they were not a confident swimmer.
Surf Lifesaving Otago-Southland Search and Rescue co-ordinator Max Corby said it was fortunate there had been no recent after-hours callouts.
His message for beachgoers was simple: "If in doubt, stay out. There has been a lot of drownings around New Zealand and we don’t want anymore — period."
— additional reporting The New Zealand Herald
