Hazardous surf conditions dominated the Hunter's coastline on Tuesday as ex-tropical cyclone Seth moved towards land in southeastern Queensland.
The NSW Bureau of Meteorology had a warning in place for the Hunter, Sydney, Illawarra, Macquarie, Coffs and Byron coasts, advising swimmers to avoid the ocean, rock fishers not to take to coastal platforms and skippers to rethink plans to take boats across shallow waters or ocean bars.
Beaches across the Hunter region were closed for the day.
Lake Macquarie City Council senior lifeguard Lucas Samways told the Newcastle Herald from Redhead beach that there was a "very strong current", powerful waves in the four-to-five foot range and big tides.
He said people looking for a place to have a dip should "hit up the local swimming pools, pretty much" and avoid the beaches until conditions improved.
"We're not getting the full capacity of what they're experiencing up north but we're definitely copping it a bit down here," he said.
"Hopefully in the next few days it'll ease up a bit."
The BoM said the tropical low, which was situated off the Gold Coast on Tuesday afternoon, was expected to weaken later this week.
There have been huge swells across the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Moreton Bay and North Stradbroke Island, while abnormally high tides have been forecast for Fraser Island, the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast, with water levels up to 0.5m higher than usual and coastal erosion also expected on exposed beaches.
The BoM said the system was expected to bring some rain in northern NSW in the coming days.
- With AAP
