Omanu Surf Lifesaving Club's Allan Mundy said lifeguards expected they were in for a busy summer and he was not surprised at the result.
"Essentially, the reason for that was it has been an El Nino year," he said.
"We have had unusually high numbers of surf days and the water has been warm. Once everything from the Rena worked itself out, we had quite decent crowd numbers."
The last time El Nino hit the Western Bay 10 to 11 years ago, the club was inundated with rescue demand.
Mr Mundy said beaches such as Piha, Raglan and Bethells were dangerous because they were surf beaches.
Adding heavy surf to a long stretch of beach like Omanu was a recipe for trouble, he said.
"Swimmers probably handle flat water no problem but as soon as they get dumped by some waves ... panic is the biggest killer, not the swimmer's ability. They get caught in a position that's unknown and as soon as panic sets in they become a rock."
The club patrols from Tay St to Sunbrae Ave - one of the longest stretches of beach handled by a club in the Western Bay.
During the 2010/2011 season, Omanu had only 17 rescues, while Mount Maunganui had 43 and Papamoa 34.
Papamoa Beach club patrol captain Shaun Smith said they often had rescues because they also patrolled several kilometres of beach but he was surprised at the increase this season.
"Our numbers were way down. Just from working on the beach we didn't seem to be as busy," Mr Smith said.
"Basically, when we started (on December 20) there was no problem with oil, but just with having the Rena and the negative publicity, a lot of people didn't come to the beach and if they did they didn't swim, and it was crap weather."
However, January was a busy month.
Two children were lucky to be alive after they were pulled from the water at Papamoa after being caught in a rip on January 7. The rescue came days after a 45-year-old Auckland man drowned in the same spot after going to retrieve cray pots.
On January 2, two German tourists were rescued at Papamoa when they began being dragged out to sea.
On January 11, two teenagers nearly drowned after they were caught in rips, the first off Tay St and another while swimming outside the Omanu Surf Lifesaving Club, and were treated at Tauranga Hospital.
Bay of Plenty beaches come under the Surf Lifesaving New Zealand's Eastern District.
