Surf Life Saving NSW is urging caution after four drownings in coastal parts of the state - including two on the border of Lake Macquarie and the Central Coast - in the past fortnight.
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The rescue agency said the latest tragedy at Moonee Beach, where an 80-year-old woman from North Epping and her 76-year-old husband were swept into the water from a rock shelf this week, showed the inherent dangers that remote sections of coastline present.
"Conditions can be unpredictable, particularly recently with hazardous surf and heavy rains and this area is a notorious one for drownings and major rescues," a Surf Life Saving NSW spokesperson said.
In the past five years at Frazer Park - close to where this week's tragedy unfolded - lifeguards have conducted 116 rescues and 500 first aid treatments.
Fourteen people have died in the area around Snapper Point, Moonee Beach and Frazer Park in the past 10 years.
The couple who died this week were believed to be walking to the well-known but hard-to-reach Pink Caves when they struck trouble.
The woman's body washed ashore on Monday afternoon before a full-scale search located the man in the water several kilometres south the next day.
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