Tasman Sea Beaches

The sea between Australia and New Zealand, and one of the more consistently rough bodies of water in the register. Swell generated in the Southern Ocean arrives at both coasts with little to slow it, which is why the beaches on either side are surf beaches and why the rip-current and lifeguard notes here are unusually frequent. Australia's side has the warm subtropical beaches of New South Wales and the granite coves of Tasmania; New Zealand's west coast has black iron sand and some of the highest rescue counts in the country. Surf lifesaving as an organised institution began on this sea, at Bondi in 1907, and the flag system it produced is now used worldwide. Practically: swim between the flags, which is not a slogan on this sea but the difference between the patrolled area and the rip. Patrols run from about October to Easter on both coasts and the water outside those months is unsupervised.

They spread across five beach worlds, the largest group being two castaway beaches. Together they account for 97 km of shore. · computed from the 7 records below