As lifesavers prepare to down flags on Sunday, marking the end of the 2017/2018 patrol season, the region’s coastal drowning toll stands at five. 

Volunteer lifesavers, responsible for Sunday and public holiday patrols at 17 beaches between Stanwell Park and Windang, recorded 373 rescues this season, up from 209 the year before.

There were also 34 ambulances tasked to the region’s beaches for fractures, near-drownings and medical episodes – up from 15 last year. 

Volunteers’ record-keeping on visitor numbers was patchy, therefore no definitive crowd-count exists. 

But Surf Life Saving NSW’s Illawarra duty officer Anthony Turner said anecdotal evidence indicted beach visitor numbers were “through the roof”, driven by high temperatures and convenience.

“It was hotter than normal, right into April,” he said. “All clubs experienced above average crowds, especially later in the season. 

“The weather conditions definitely played a huge factor in [driving up] our statistics.” 

“If you go to Sydney [beaches] you’ve got to pay $40 to park for the day. But here you’ve got free parking, not driving through heavy Sydney traffic. It’s a great location and the word’s out.”  

There were 23 drownings in the region in the 10 years to 2016. 

All 2017/2018 drownings occurred either outside of patrol hours, or at unpatrolled beaches, beginning the afternoon of September 1 when a woman’s body was recovered off Port Kembla’s Fisherman’s Beach. 

Victorian father-of-three Shaun Oliver, 32, tragically died nine days later while trying to save a stranger’s children at Wollongong’s City Beach. 

On January 6, a 48-year-old Western Sydney man was found floating face-down south of Sandon Point. He died in Wollongong Hospital two days later. 

On the afternoon of January 7 a 33-year-old man was pulled unconscious from the surf at Port Kembla's MM Beach. He too died two days later.

In the region’s most recent drowning death, a fisherman believed aged in his 40s could not be revived after he was washed off Windang Island the night of March 31.

Mr Turner paid tribute to the “tremendous effort” of volunteers in keeping the region’s patrolled beaches safe. 

“We’ve had thousands and thousands of people on the beaches and no drownings occurred between the red and yellow flags,” he said. 

“It really is a massive effort.” 

From Sunday, North Wollongong Beach will be the only patrolled beach in the region throughout the off-season. Patrol hours are from 9am to 4pm, seven days a week. The 2018/2019 patrol season starts Saturday September 23.