The remote beaches along Queensland's Cooloola Coast were once a well-kept secret, but booming visitor numbers and a statewide shortage of lifesavers are seeing one popular town struggle to keep the flags up.
Dozens more volunteer surf lifesavers and professional lifeguards are needed statewide to help keep thousands of beachgoers safe.
At Rainbow Beach, the coastal community's only patrolled beach, lifesaver Kim McCarthy said his patrol was monitoring significantly more people than before the pandemic.
"Certain people who used to travel out of Brisbane and go south of the border for holidays and weekends were forced to stay in Queensland, and they found Rainbow Beach and have been coming back ever since," Mr McCarthy said.
Rainbow Beach police are preparing for the town's population to quadruple over the Christmas period as holiday-makers flock to stay and camp along the Cooloola Coast.
Mr McCarthy said the town was becoming more popular, but finding people to patrol the beach was becoming increasingly more difficult.
"It's a very important task. Certainly a lot of people have been assisted and, now and then, a life that may have been otherwise lost is saved," he said.
"I say that if you have to do a dramatic rescue, you may well not have been paying attention the preceding 10 minutes."
Widespread problem
A Surf Life Saving Queensland spokesperson said more volunteers were needed — particularly in regional and remote areas of the state.
"There are many industries across the world currently dealing with staff shortages and our industry is no exception," the spokesperson said.
"We expect this summer to be a busy period for lifesavers and lifeguards, particularly with the return of international visitors after two years of border closures due to COVID-19."
Travelling lifeguards
As a temporary fix, some lifesavers are travelling from as far as the Gold Coast to keep the flags open at Rainbow Beach.
Brisbane surf lifesaver Kayley Pezzack said she regularly patrolled at clubs in need of members across south-east Queensland.
"Some of their patrols might have a group with maybe only two members because they've got such low members," Ms Tezzack said.
"It's really good to have the extra numbers on the beach so that if something does go wrong, you've got those extra hands and there's always someone watching the water."
She said Rainbow Beach was a favourite location for travelling lifeguards who stayed in the surf club's dormitory rooms for multiple days.
"It's really different than what we normally see on the Gold Coast and some of our Sunshine Coast beaches," she said.
"You've got four-wheel drives on the beach to your south, you've got horses to the north, you've got hang gliding [above].
"Then when you get out on the water, you can look at the coloured sands and look up at the Carlo Sandblow."
Ipswich mum Jade Watson said she felt safer at a patrolled beach and planned to return soon.
"It's so great to have them [lifesavers] there. As a parent, it makes you feel a little bit more secure," Ms Watson said.
Family affair
Lifesaver Vicki Schooth urged those in regional and rural communities to volunteer with their local club.
"Probably every weekend there will be a team that would struggle to mount a patrol," she said.
Her family joined the club when her children were young and she said becoming a surf lifesaver was "one of the best things" they had done.
"Age is no barrier and these people are now our extended family and it's part of the reason why we love it," she said.
Ms Schooth's daughters Sophie and Emily have grown up on the beach from being nippers to integral members of the patrol.
"Getting involved in lifesaving and nippers is one of the best things I've ever done," Sophie said.
"It's just opened up so many opportunities and gave me so many things I didn't know that I liked and wanted to do.
"You've always got someone who you can talk to, and you can rely on them and they've always got your back."
