There were 29 swimmers rescued from the surf, statistics from the professional lifeguards show, 179 applications of first-aid and 6877 preventative actions.

A preventative action occurs when a lifeguard advises beachgoers about swimming safety or beach conditions, potentially preventing a rescue from taking place.

The lifeguards reported a total of 165,04 visitors to the patrolled beaches, with 10,634 reported by volunteer club patrol members.

The volunteers patrol on weekends.

First aid actions in particular were down when compared for to the same period last year. 

This was largely because of the large number of blue-bottles and jellyfish in the water last summer which forced the temporary closure of beaches.

Statistics from the volunteer patrols conducted by Hat Head, South West RocksR and Kempsey-Crescent Head club members were still being collected as of yesterday.

But the clubs have also reported a quiet season, marked by fine weather and well behaved crowds of beach-goers.

Macleay Valley professional lifeguards finished their summer season duties on the Australia Day long weekend.

The lifeguards are provided under a contract with Australian Lifeguard Services, the business arm of Surf Lifesaving NSW.

They patrol Grassy Head, Horseshoe Bay, SWR Main beach, Hat Head and Crescent Head on weekdays during holiday times, and in support of local volunteer surf club patrols on weekends.

The professional lifeguards will return to duty on Macleay Valley beaches for the school holidays in April.

One man lost his life in October 2013 outside of the professional patrol period at Stuarts Point beach after getting into difficulty after going to the aid of other swimmers who were caught in a rip.

Club patrol members from South West Rocks and Macksville-Scotts Head responded to the emergency but were unable to save the man.