Beach warning after man drowns on the Gold Coast

Lifeguards are warning of treacherous beach conditions on the last weekend of the school holidays after a man in his 20s drowned on the Gold Coast.

Lifeguards are warning of treacherous beach conditions on the last weekend of the school holidays after another drowning tragedy on the Gold Coast.

A man in his 20s drowned and two of his mates were taken to hospital after they got into strife while swimming more than a kilometre from the nearest patrolled area on the Southport Spit on Thursday afternoon.

A City of Gold Coast lifeguard on duty at the Southport Seaway rushed down the beach in his 4WD and paddled out about 150m to the drowning man on a rescue board.

He got him to the beach and started CPR until paramedics arrived, but they were unable to save him. His two companions were given oxygen on the sand.

A man drowned at Main Beach on Thursday. Picture: Nigel Hallett

“They were in a pretty bad state,” Gold Coast chief lifeguard Chris Maynard said.

“The lifeguard had a similar situation a couple of weeks ago and reacted very quickly when a member of the public raised the alarm that there was a drama down the beach.”

Mr Maynard said dangerous surf was expected for the weekend, with a jump in swell to almost 2m on Friday.

He said his staff had performed about 500 rescues over the school holidays, with volunteer lifesavers performing hundreds more on weekends and public holidays.

“It’s been really challenging on a daily basis,” he said.

“This has been one of the busiest summers we’ve seen in a while after Covid and wet weather kept things relatively quiet the past couple of years.

“The weather this year been great and the beaches have been extremely crowded. With that, we’ve had the typical January easterly swells with really unstable conditions.

“We’ve had a hell of a lot of rescues and people taken to hospital after near-drownings.”

Police officers at The Spit, where a man drowned despite the best efforts of a lifesaver and paramedics to revive him. Picture: Nigel Hallett

Mr Maynard said the area where the drowning happened on Friday, near Sea World, was a notorious black spot.

“Unfortunately, it’s a location where people sneak through the gaps (between patrolled areas),” he said.

“They park along the Spit and use the beach tracks to access the beach.”

It’s the second drowning tragedy on Gold Coast beaches these school holidays.

A Melbourne tourist drowned at Surfers Paradise on December 28 after going for a 7pm swim with his 11-year-old son after beach patrols had finished for the day.