A trio of French travellers have been branded "dopey" for heading out on Lake Wakatipu without life jackets in a small wooden dinghy early on Monday evening as a southerly brewed on the lake.
"It's just stupid - more stupidity," Queenstown Lakes District Council harbourmaster Marty Black said, adding it was the second time in recent weeks French nationals had been cautioned for not wearing life jackets.
Mr Black said the three - two women and a man aged in their late teens or early 20s - were turned back as they set out from Queenstown Bay by a pair of commercial boat operators about 5.15pm. The dinghy had just 3cm of freeboard above the waterline.
Mr Black spoke to the trio on shore and said he might follow up the caution with an official warning and fine.
In December, French travellers Raphael Soubrier (21) and Yoann Firdion (24) drowned while kayaking on the lake as a swelling southerly swamped their tandem kayak. Although wearing life jackets, the pair were wearing only thin clothing.
"People just don't realise the danger of the lake," Mr Black said.
