The 34-year-old man, who locals said was a German tourist, was surfing with a friend at Suffolk Park, just south of Byron Bay, when he was struck by lightning about 10.30am on Sunday.

Surfers dragged the injured man onto the beach and performed CPR on him, until paramedics took him to The Tweed Hospital in a critical condition.

A hospital spokeswoman said the man remained in a critical but stable condition on Monday. His girlfriend is believed to be with him at hospital, while authorities are attempting to contact his family in Germany.

The Byron Bay Boardriders club was holding a junior surfing competition about 200 metres from where the man was struck, but vice president Neil Cameron said the competition was called off when conditions became too dangerous.

"The weather got too bad and the wind and rain, it just got cyclonic, and they basically packed up and left the beach," Mr Cameron said.

"Around that time, about 200 metres up the beach, a gentleman was struck by lightning while he was in the water. He wasn't a member [of the Byron Bay Boardriders], and we understand that he's a German tourist living in the area of Suffolk Park."

Mr Cameron said he had been surfing at nearby Broken Head earlier on Sunday morning, and he could see the storm intensifying.

"You could see it was building. We didn't expect that sort of intensity though. It just came in from nowhere, sometimes you get those sudden storms. It was far too much for anyone."

Mr Cameron said he had never heard of anyone being struck by lightning while surfing before, and said the intensity of the storm was incredible.

"It's pretty rare that you get an impact like that," he said.

A local resident, Petra Smagcka, told the Northern Star newspaper that she was cleaning her home when she heard up to two lightning strikes.

"I was very scared ... I heard a massive sound," she said.

"There were maybe two strikes.

"I was thinking no one would be swimming."

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