The red and yellow flags will be packed away until patrols resume at Blacksmiths, Caves, Catherine Hill Bay and Redhead beaches in the September-October school holidays.

Council’s beach lifeguard service team leader, Paul Stone, said the lifeguards had done an excellent job of keeping the beaches safe throughout a busy season.

“Between October and March there were 117 rescues, 2387 first aid incidents, 2421 preventative actions and an impressive 941,011 attendance at the beaches,” Mr Stone said.

“The beaches were closed 146 times during the season.

“Beachgoers across all of our beaches were well behaved and adhered to instructions from lifeguards, resulting in another successful season at our beaches.

"Over the summer holidays, we trialled an additional lifeguard at Hams Beach, north of Caves Beach, which helped to alleviate the risk of incidents occurring along our coastline.”

This season also saw a trial of new technologies at Redhead Beach with the Department of Primary Industries using drones to conduct aerial surveillance.

“The drone trial at Redhead Beach led to a rise in confirmed shark sightings and beach closures over the summer holiday period due to increased aerial surveillance in the area,” Mr Stone said.

“These trials helped us to provide the community with accurate real-time updates on sightings, which allowed our community to make informed decisions when visiting our beaches.”

Redhead Beach was the busiest stretch of sand in the Lake Macquarie patrol area, with an attendance of 329,353 in the period from October to March.

There were 44 rescues performed at the beach.

The fewest rescues, 13, were performed at Blacksmiths Beach where 178,792 attended. At Catherine Hill Bay 150,561 attended, and there were 26 rescues.