SWIMMERS will be able to enjoy a dip safely during golden hour as Lake Macquarie extends its lifeguard hours this summer.
Lifeguards will patrol Redhead, Blacksmiths, Caves and Catherine Hill Bay beaches for an extra two hours until the end of January, as new data reveals people are heading to the shores before and after work.
Lake Macquarie City Council has been monitoring beach visitation for the past two years through its Smart Beaches program, leisure services manager Brad Sutton said.
"On warm evenings particularly, we're seeing a large number of people heading to the coast to enjoy our beaches," he said.
"A lot of these visitors, including families with young children, are turning up just as we're taking the flags down for the day - and this is often when conditions are at their most hazardous.
"Smart Beaches monitoring has provided hard data to back up our lifeguards' observations of visiting habits, creating an excellent case to keep our beaches open longer each day."
Lifeguards will patrol the beaches from 8am to 6pm until January 29, extending beyond the usual summer season hours of 9am to 5pm.
The Smart Beaches program automatically counts visitor numbers without identifying specific people at all four of Lake Macquarie's beaches.
On weekends, 9am to 10am is the busiest period, which suggests a lot of families wait until the beach is patrolled.
And it's proved what lifeguards already knew, that from Monday to Friday, 5pm to 6pm is the busiest hour, head lifeguard Lucas Samways said.
"Starting at 8am means families can get to the beach earlier and know patrols will be operating," he said.
"That will be really great news for families whose kids are early risers, or who want to get out and about before the day really heats up."
More than one million people are expected to head to the city's beaches across the 2022 to 2023 season, making it one of the busiest stretches of coastline in the state outside of Sydney.
Lake Macquarie mayor Kay Fraser said the altered schedule shows how technology can provide real-world benefits.
"It's fantastic how the data we've collected can contribute to decisions to improve the services we deliver to the community," she said.
"I'd encourage everyone to make the most of these extended hours and enjoy our beautiful coast during patrolled periods."
The new patrolled hours began this week.
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