Mostly men drowning in the Bay of Plenty as figures show a rise in deaths

"That water out there is not our friend ... if you can't swim, it will kill you."

That is the strong message from a Tauranga lifeguard.

His warning follows statistics from Water Safety NZ (WSNZ), which shows eight people drowned in the Bay of Plenty last year. But those figures didn't show the "epidemic of stupidity" in the water, with the number of rescues doubling at the end of last year.

There were 74 total preventable drownings in New Zealand in 2021, down from the 2016 to 2020 average of 78.

Eight of those who drowned last year were in the Bay of Plenty, up from seven the year before. Of the eight people who died last year seven were men, and three were people of Māori ethnicity.

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Between Christmas Eve and January 5, 14 people drowned nationally and set an "unprecedented" toll.

Meanwhile, a man died following a water-related incident near Whakatāne Heads around 6.15pm on Sunday. The man's death has been referred to the coroner.

Surf Life Saving NZ search and rescue manager Allan Mundy said the rescues, preventatives and everything done to help people in trouble doubled from October to December compared to the year before.

Asked about rescues, Mundy said the beaches were the busiest on record while ''males are still doing the same dumb stuff," and often letting ego override commonsense.

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"That doesn't show all the rescues that lifeguards, coastguards and helicopter personnel carry out".

Mundy spoke of two rescues last year where men on small plastic boats went out in "howling" winds far offshore to find a Kontiki - an electric longline beach fishing system.

One of the men did not have a lifejacket and was rescued at 9.30pm. He was only spotted because he was holding a torch in his mouth with paddles in his hands about 1km from shore.

"If we didn't see that guy's light, he would've died."

The other man was rescued in strong winds which blew the team 1.5km across the beach on their way to him.

Two weeks ago, the team rescued a man in a pool toy with a little motor on the back, zipping around Rabbit Island.

When things go wrong and there's no back-up plan, Mundy said: "you're going to die, and people don't seem to understand that".

As a country, he said everyone that goes into water needed to "take a good hard look at themselves" and have a Plan B if something went wrong.

"When I was on the rescue helicopter crew, never did I recover someone dead in a lifejacket. I recovered lots of dead people in the water that weren't in lifejackets.

He said those who could not swim should not go into the surf over their head. They should swim with someone else or have a floatation device like a boogie board.

"That water out there is not our friend ... if you can't swim, it will kill you," he said.

He said this meant being able to swim at least 200 meters confidently.

Surf Life Saving NZ search and rescue manager Allan Mundy. Photo / File

Water Safety New Zealand spokesman Rob McGregor said the Bay of Plenty, Auckland, Waikato and Northland were overrepresented with warmer weather, enticing people into the water.

He said men were more likely to underestimate the risks and their ability in the water, which may contribute to most of the deaths being men.

"Think about the rules, think about the risk, and make sure children are supervised."

Rotorua Coastguard president Jeremy Doorman said of the rescues they attended last year, it mainly came down to lack of knowledge and inexperience.

He said people with holiday homes by the lakes rented them out during the year and left things like kayaks, which he said should be accompanied by a guide for those without experience.

Doorman suggested people did the Boating Education Day Skipper courses or other water-related courses.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council Harbourmaster Jon Peters said "complacency is the biggest killer".

He said boaties need to ensure they have all the needed safety and communication devices and to check the weather even if experienced and know the area.

"Research shows that about two-thirds of recreational boating deaths might have been prevented if people were wearing their lifejackets."