Grim start to year with three dead on nation's beaches

Surf Lifesaving NSW CEO Steve Pearce described the death toll so far for 2026 as "absolutely horrendous".

"Three confirmed drownings, and potentially another two with those searches continuing for two gentlemen ... means we potentially have lost five people within 24 hours," he told Sydney radio 2GB on Friday.

The tragic start to 2026 began on eastern Sydney beaches when emergency services were called to Maroubra at 4am on Thursday.

Witnesses told police a 25-year-old woman, believed to be a Chinese national, had been hit by a wave that knocked her into a tidal rock pool before further waves swept her into the Pacific Ocean.

She was found at 5am and could not be resuscitated.

At nearby Coogee Beach, surf lifesavers on jet skis were searching for a missing swimmer after emergency services were alerted to three people caught in a rip just after 6am on Thursday.

Television news footage showed a fully clothed police officer entering the water to try to save the man, 25, but he slipped away.

Two other people were rescued by off-duty lifesavers.

The search and rescue mission for the missing swimmer is continuing with jet skis and several marine police watercraft deployed, but there are grave fears for the man's survival.

Authorities have also stepped up their search for a snorkeller missing since Thursday afternoon in the ocean off Ledge Point Beach, more than 100km north of Perth.

The 32-year-old man was part of a group of four divers from Perth who were snorkelling for crayfish, according to WA Police.

Police divers are now involved in the search.

On Thursday afternoon, a 45-year-old woman was pulled from the water off Dunbogan Beach on the NSW mid north coast, but could not be revived.

Heartfelt tributes have been left for the Berowra Heights mum-of-two, who has since been identified as Melissa Austin.

Ms Austin, who owned a hairdressing salon in Sydney's north, has been remembered by her colleagues and clients as "a truly beautiful person" who will be deeply missed.

Further north in Queensland's Whitsundays, a 35-year-old Irish man was found dead in the water on New Year's Eve at Whitehaven Beach.

The incidents follow the death of a man in Sydney on New Year's Eve after a dinghy capsized at Palm Beach.

Two men and a 14-year-old boy were in the vessel when it overturned in rough conditions around Barrenjoey Headland about 11.35am.

A man was pulled from the water by surf lifesavers and treated by paramedics, but he died at the scene, and the second man was winched to safety by helicopter.

A large-scale search for the teenager is ongoing but has been scaled back.

Since Christmas Day, NSW surf lifesavers have performed more than 85 rescues.

A hazardous surf warning has been issued for most of the state's beaches, with Mr Pearce pleading with people not to jump in the water.

Over the New Year period, the risk of drowning is three times greater than at any other time of the year.