Woman dead, husband missing after being swept off rocks near Punchbowl Coastal Reserve near San Remo

A search for the body of a man who was swept off the rocks into the sea with his wife near San Remo has been called off, days after the body of his wife was recovered.

A woman who drowned after being swept off rocks at a notorious section of coastline near Phillip Island on Friday will have to be buried without her husband after the search for his body was called off.

Monday signalled the last day searching for the 41-year-old Chineses national who was swept into the ocean off rocks at Punchbowl Beach on Friday while sightseeing with friends.

The body of the man’s wife, a 37-year-old woman, was recovered on Friday afternoon.

The married couple had one child, but it has not been confirmed if they were at the beach when their parents were swept into the water.

Ocean conditions have also meant that rescuers have been able to deploy divers to see if the man’s body was snagged among the rocks.

The two confirmed fatalities, now the search has been called off, takes the death toll to 32 in the area across the last 10 years.

Four people were killed in a mass drowning in 2024 at a Forrest Cave Beach located less than 10km away from Friday’s tragedy.

A third person was also swept off the rocks at Punchbowl on Friday but police confirmed the woman was rescued and brought to shore by another person in the party.

The search continues for the missing man.

The man was swept out to sea on Friday morning. Picture: Eyewatch – Bass Coast Police Service Area

Hopes fade for missing man

Victoria Police Acting Inspector Jason Hullick on Saturday said it appeared unlikely that the missing man would be found alive.

He said the search would resume at first light on Sunday morning but expected it to be scaled back from Monday, if the man was not found.

“Potentially, you never want to give up hope, but the operation is probably now transitioning into a recovery phase,” he said.

“But unfortunately at this stage there are still no sightings. We have got his last known description so we are also looking for particular items, clothing and footwear, things like that.

“But we really want to be able to bring some closure to the family.”

The couple were tragically swept off the rocks at Punchbowl Rocks Beach. Picture: 7NEWS

The Punchbowl rocks is popular for fishers, but is listed as one of 10 high risk zones by the Victorian Fisheries Authority. Picture: Eyewatch – Bass Coast Police Service Area

The coastguard was seen doing grid searches up to 500m from shore while a search and rescue chopper travelled from San Remo to Kilcunda.

Acting Insp. Hullick said conditions were calmer on Saturday but still did not suit diving operations near the rocks.

“We have done some modelling with the currents and the tide, but we also don’t want to rely too heavily on that, because past experience tells us that it doesn’t always work out that way,” he added.

The incident sparked a major emergency response on Friday. Picture: 7News

The Chinese nationals’ decision to climb onto the rocks at the notorious fishing spot raised questions about signage at popular tourist sites.

But Monash University linguistics expert and former lifesaver Masaki Shibata said the icons and short phrases could be altered at some sites to be understood more easily.

Police at the scene on Friday. Picture: 7News

Mr Shibata, who has studied the effects of beach safety signage in various languages, said even some of the English terms were not fully understood by Australians.

“Some of the terms are mistranslated into Chinese,” he said.

“And for example, (the term) shore dump was translated to ‘a place to put rubbish on the shore’, and the term shore break was to ‘take a break on the shore’.

“But then some of the pictures were misunderstood … some people see the slipping sign as a sign to get deeper in the water.”

The area is listed as one of 10 high risk zones by the Victorian Fisheries Authority. Picture: Facebook/VFA

Originally published as Woman dead, husband missing after being swept off rocks near Punchbowl Coastal Reserve near San Remo