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King tides set to lash Gold, Sunshine Coasts

Rips are expected to be bigger and more frequent along the beaches. - ABC

The biggest king tides of the year are expected to create dangerous beach conditions on the Gold and Sunshine Coasts over the next week.

Surf lifesavers are warning king tides, combined with very low tides, will create dangerous beach conditions from today until next Thursday.

Sunshine Coast lifesaving duty officer David McLean says swimmers will need to be careful.

"If the swell is big enough then we will certainly get an increase in the size of some of those rips and possibly the duration of them - they could be a lot more frequent along the beaches so people need to be aware of that," he said.

"That water's got to get back out and obviously with the bigger tide, more water around, it's just commonsense that there's going to be more rips out."

Mr McLean says conditions will be particularly dangerous around river mouths.

"There would be some concern there for certainly Pumicestone Passage where we do normally several rescues anyway on the outgoing tide," he said.

"With an increase in those tides, we would want people to take a lot more care and not get caught in that movement of water moving back out."

Gold Coast lifesaving coordinator Stuart Hogben says there will be similarly dangerous conditions on the southern tourist strip.

"It's something that people have got to be aware about and it's just a matter of taking an extra little bit of care and really thinking about where you're swimming," he said.

"Some of the worst spots on the Gold Coast are going to be Currumbin Creek mouth, Tallebudgera Creek mouth because they are the spots where there is even more water running out to sea."

- ABC

© ABC 2008

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