Warrnambool Coast Guard urge caution as surf lifesavers issue rough surf warning

Swimmer numbers will swell as summer visitors and residents flock to the region's beaches to cool off.

That included two paddle boarders in Port Fairy who required rescuing on Tuesday afternoon.

But western lifeguard co-ordinator Michael Owen said there had been no other incidents at Warrnambool, Port Fairy, Narrawong or Port Campbell beaches over the past few days but said there was a rough surf warning in place on Tuesday.

He said there was a call out for Port Fairy lifeguards to attend a rescue at Killarney Beach on Monday but they were stood down before they reached the beach.

"They were called back last minute because the people got back to safety," he said. "A call went through to Life Saving Victoria but then they were stood down because the people got back to shore. They were caught in a rip there."

It comes after the festive season ended in tragedy with three drownings, a further three significant incidents, and 48 rescues conducted by lifesavers in Victorian waters since Christmas Day.

Mr Owen urged people to consider the conditions before heading out too deep where they could be dumped by waves, with unusually "huge" surf for this time of year.

"It's strange," Mr Owen said. "We've got offshore conditions and it's warm and we've got pretty large surf so people just need to be careful."

Mr Owen urged people to swim at patrolled beaches and said it appeared a lot of the incidents across Victoria this week occurred at non-patrolled areas where lifeguards weren't on duty.

"It's right across the region. I was in Narrawong yesterday and the surf was huge and I was out in the water this morning at Warrnambool and it was big there as well.

"We urge people to swim in flagged areas so they're swimming with lifesavers watching what's going," he said. "People in boats need to be careful as well as we've got a fairly large swell coming through at the moment."

He said the big surf conditions began on Monday and would continue throughout Tuesday with a change expected overnight Tuesday.

"People need to be careful of dumping waves along the beaches because there's a fair sweep as well," he said. "There's a lot of currents in the water that people need to be careful of."

The region's marine rescue authorities are also urging caution following reports of large swells and the recent drownings across Victoria.

Warrnambool Coast Guard captain Allan Wood said his crew was on high alert.

"It's a very dangerous ocean out there and if you give it half a chance it can do some serious damage to you," he said.

"But luckily we've had a very, very lean period. That's also been typical of all the marine rescue people around, I know volunteer marine rescue Port Fairy have also had a lean period as has coast guard Portland.

"We have a full team with four skippers at the moment and are ready ... We've gone to great extremes to make sure our people are trained by the absolute best."

That included flying internationally-renowned trainer Craig Zulian in from NSW to deliver an advanced training course.

Members Keith Prest, Rhys Jones and Mark Atkinson will soon be able to deliver rescue water craft training and will undergo 15 hours of local water familiarisation which will be carried out from Childers Cove to Port Fairy.

The final stage of their program will also include a focus on access to popular beach spots including Killarney, in time for summer.

In the meantime, Mr Wood issued some reminders.

"The boat ramp is getting a little bit of a run these days, people are trying it because it's relatively new to them so there's been a lot of activity," he said.

"The main message is always to make sure they maintain their equipment before they go out, make sure their fuel is fresh because it does go off over winter.

"They also need to make sure their engines are maintained, otherwise they're asking for trouble."

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