Port Stephens residents are cheering the return of the region's powered vessel exclusion zones this Christmas, but some say the noise and near-misses have simply been moved down the waterway.
Locals have expressed everything from relief at quieter mornings, to frustration that jet-ski activity had merely shifted into unprotected bays.
Nelson Bay resident Darin O'Brien said the "echoing drone" of jet-skis from early morning to dusk had made summer along Dutchmans Beach exhausting before the trial, and that swimming near the watercraft had rarely felt safe.
"The risk of swimming amongst jet-skis and exercising dogs near Dutchies is not low," he said.
He welcomed the return of the zones.
"Year on year it seems the total number of skis in the bay keeps increasing, getting busier," he said.
"Bring exclusions on."
A One Mile beach local said he and many others used Nelson Bay beach as a safe spot to swim and that he thought the exclusion zone should cover the entire beach.
He and his wife had both had near misses with jet-skis while swimming, and had begun wearing fluorescent swimming caps to make themselves more visible. He described the scene at the beach last summer as "segregation", with jet-skis and swimmers both "crammed" into separate ends of the beach.
Jet-skis and protecting the beach and swimmers were "incompatible".
"It is a matter of life and death," he said.
"They can have the rest of the bay, leave this stretch for swimmers, kids, families.
"I am not anti-tourist but it needs to be managed better."
He also feared for the local wildlife, which often needed rehabilitation and treatment after watercraft strikes.
"This is one of the largest turtle habitats on the east coast, and the jet-skis can just wipe them out," he said.
"They go so fast and just crack their shells, and once that happens they can't dive because air gets into their carapace."
Others said that the zones had simply displaced the problem, rather than solved it.
Linda Mackenzie, who lives in the western part of Port Stephens, said jet-ski activity had increased in her area once the exclusion zones came in further east.
"There was an increase of jet-ski activity so it has just relocated the same problem to another area that was quite peaceful," she said.
Not everyone welcomed the zones.
Jet-ski owner Jeremy Battiato said riders who followed the rules were being punished for the behaviour of a minority, and argued the answer was tougher policing rather than exclusion zones.
"The riders that do the right thing and obey the rules and respect swimmers etc always have to suffer," he said.
"More waterways officers and marine police would solve this whole issue with jet-ski hoons, not all of us are bad people, and some of us follow the rules and do the right thing."
For scuba diver Jo MacGregor, the zones addressed a safety issue that went beyond noise. She and other divers regularly explored the water around the trial sites, and considered shared use with powered vessels a genuine hazard.
Another local went further, suggesting the beaches should be permanently off-limits to jet-skis given the concentration of swimmers, paddlers and other unpowered craft.
Many were simply glad to see the zones locked back in.
"Last summer was just the best," Lesley Dollman said.
"To feel much safer at the exclusion zone beaches last year was just great, so glad to see it return again this summer."
