Questions are being raised about safety on a popular New South Wales south coast beach after two drowning incidents in just over a year.
A 36-year-old Sydney man died at Mollymook on Monday after getting into difficulty in an unpatrolled area known as ‘the reef’.
The drowning was 250 metres south of where a man died after being caught in a rip while swimming with his children in 2008.
Mollymook Surf Club member Glenn Matthews, who was involved in both rescues, says the reef is notoriously dangerous.
“It’s in the region of the incident that happened in December 2008,” he said.
“The children were out on boogie boards, got themselves caught in a rip, [their] father went to assist and unfortunately the father passed away.
“Part of the problem is the roadway is the closest access point to the beach, so a lot of people do park their cars in the car park area and just head into the water.”
Mr Matthews says the Shoalhaven council should post more warning signs.
“I’d like to see improved signage on how to identify a rip placed on the beach and also signage to indicate that the area is unpatrolled,” he said.
“When patrols are on the beach, direction signs indicating where the closest patrolled area is, because unfortunately we did have a patrol on the beach, another kilometre to the south.”