The Australian Lifeguard Service (ALS) will provide a lifeguard service to patrol Tathra Beach for this additional period as they have in previous years with the highly professional lifeguards a welcome sight.

Tathra Beach will now be the only beach from Mollymook through to the Victorian border that will be patrolled throughout February following the completion of summer contracts which saw eight Bega Valley beaches throughout December and January.

Rob White from Tathra Beach House Apartments, who spearheaded the inaugural campaign in 2015 is delighted that they were able to secure funding from the local business community.

“As holiday accommodation providers the safety of our guests is something that we take seriously. Having that extra month of patrols is really important for our local community for not only safety reasons,” Mr White said.

“We often have a surge of tourists later in the summer especially retirees and young families, and having lifeguards on means that they can go to the beach safely when they might not previously have done so.

“I think this year this safety message needs to be constantly reinforced as we have seen the terrible drownings throughout NSW. Surf safety is something we are very conscious of and a message that we will continue to reinforce both to our guests and community.”

Local business organisations Bega Valley Motors, Big 4 Tathra Beach, Tathra Beachside, Tathra Beach House Apartments and the Tathra Chamber of Commerce have all backed the campaign, while The Tathra Beach Bowling Club and Bega Chamber of Commerce have also come on board this year. 

“The past few seasons have proved extremely successful in having additional lifeguard patrols for that extra month, and we are delighted that the business community have come aboard again this year,” Australian Lifeguard Service NSW Manager Brent Manieri said.

“We’re looking forward to returning to Tathra Beach and delivering a high quality of service during February.”