TWO men from Sydney’s inner west were rescued by lifesavers and lifeguards from the notorious sea cave at Snapper Point on Christmas Day.
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The incident will ensure the pair has something extra to celebrate every December 25.
Keelan Bridge and Jacob Evans from the Australian Lifeguard Service were about to pack up patrols at Frazer Park in the Munmorah State Conservation Area when the call came that two men were trapped in the infamous Snapper Point rock caves.
While it had been a fairly uneventful Christmas Day patrol at the popular holiday spot, all that was about to change.
Leaving Mr Bridge on duty, Mr Evans launched the jetski and arrived at Snapper Point to find two rock fishermen stranded inside the cave.
The men were distressed but unhurt so Mr Evans landed back at Frazer Park, and closed the beach for the day so that he and Mr Bridge could return to the cave on the jetski.
They were met at the rescue site by a lifesaver from Caves Beach on a second jetski.
It was decided the very experienced lifeguards would perform the rescue as the jetski needed to be driven inside the cave as the two men had almost no swimming skills.
The conditions were described by Mr Bridge as being “very challenging” but the lifeguards are experienced with the area and have performed several rescues along the notorious stretch.
“It was pretty tricky conditions, the surf was up, around four foot, and there was a lot of water moving around and surging against the rocks,” Mr Bridge said.
“We drove into the cave and managed to coax the men out onto the sled. We were able to get them out one at a time and transferred them to the other ski and they were taken back to Frazer Park.”
Waiting paramedics assessed the men who were found to be shaken but unharmed.
The Snapper Point location has been the scene of several serious rescues over the last six months, all of them successful.
“It also highlights the versatility and showcases the effectiveness of the jetski as a rescue tool in open ocean and around rocks,” a spokesperson for Surf Life Saving NSW said.
“The capability of Surf Life Saving was enhanced only last week with the announcement by the Premier of an upgrade to the surf rescue jetski fleet with an additional 11 vessels to roll out across NSW this summer.”