There were no drownings between the flags of patrolled beaches this season in the northern region. Photo / File
Surf life savers on beaches in the northern region have completed another record-breaking season.
Lifeguards made 581 rescues at beaches between Ahipara in the Far North and Raglan in the Waikato, a 28 per cent increase on the previous summer.
They were also involved in more than 44,100 preventative actions
- safety interventions before people need rescuing - involving 132,850 people, a 25 per cent increase on 2014-15.
However, there were no drownings "between the flags" at the 17 patrolled beaches in the area.
Volunteer and paid lifeguards worked more than 83,000 hours over summer, a 10 per cent increase on the year before, as visitor numbers topped 453,000.
