Crowds, cabanas and jet skis: chaos hits the bay for tourist season

Thousands of tourists have made the trip up the Pacific Highway to Port Stephens, ruffling local feathers with their jet skis and cabanas.

Each year the population of the water wonderland blows out in some estimates by 50,000 to 150,000 residents, with up to 30,000 additional day visitors.

The influx of tourism dollars is a major boost to the local economy, but it is what the visitors bring with them that is often a point of contention for residents and regular users of the beach.

Two of the main bugbears are sand-claiming cabanas and the buzz of sometimes dangerously operated jet skis.

Over New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, territory claiming cabanas were set up with no one underneath before 9am on stretches of Nelson Bay, Little Beach and Shoal Bay.

Pictures of the empty tents divided people on social media.

"The beaches are there for everyone to enjoy not a place where you can lay a claim to," Leeanne Pappa said.

"Put your shelters up when you arrive not a problem, but leaving them there overnight is not only bad manners, it's selfish."

Others said the beach should be shared.

"How about we all just appreciate the fact that we live in a beautiful part of the world and don't own it," Christina Pascal said.

Alison and Oliver Riordan were at Nelson Bay beach with their two-year-old daughter, Annie, on New Year's Day.

They said they found the beach-claiming cabana practice a "bit rude".

"We don't mind them being on the beach, everyone needs some shade, but you should be using them," Ms Riordan said.

"Setting them up to save a spot is just not on."

A Port Stephens council spokesperson said people had been well behaved as the area got busier.

"Council rangers have been out in the community and have found that people are complying with requirements around cabanas, parking responsibly and showing consideration for others in busy beaches, parks and shared spaces," they said.

Jet skis are also a very common sight at Port Stephens, with bans extending to other waterways in the state.

This year, Maritime NSW is trialling jet ski and motor boat exclusion zones around the bay to help separate riders from swimmers.

Jet ski riders and power vessel skippers have been temporarily barred from entering the three "exclusion zones" at Fly Point, Dutchmans beach and Shoal Bay between December 24 and January 26.

The out-of-bounds areas cover about 800 metres of shore, a quarter of the 3.2 kilometres of coast at Port Stephens.

Residents have welcomed the move.

"I think is a good thing" Mr Riordan said.

"It has created some separation between the swimmers and jet skis, and it has made it safer for families with kids."

The couple said they grew up in the bay and were used to the crowds returning every year, including those towing jet skis.

"Some areas are still pretty bad like Little Beach around the corner, but we have seen Maritime speaking with people.

"I think they could probably extend it year-round."

Melissa, another Nelson Bay local and her family were further down the beach with their jet ski, outside of the exclusion zone.

She said they had received abuse from passersby despite doing the right thing and avoiding exclusion zones.

"We live right across the road and we think the exclusion zones are great," she said.

"We have always done the right thing, and taken care with the way we use the jet ski around others, but unfortunately, some of the visitors do the wrong thing and we cop it as well.

"We are now being harassed, so there is probably just a bit more that could be done around community awareness of the rules.

"You do see others who have their jet ski on the waters edge and just jump on and speed off the beach out of the 4 knot zone, which is just unsafe."

She said that Maritime NSW had been very active, making sure people were complying with the new rules.

"The kids love the jet skis and we love using it on the bay, but there is always some people who do the wrong thing."

The trial is a practical way to test solutions in response to community concerns a Transport for NSW spokesperson said.

"We've heard consistent feedback about safety and amenity issues on busy waterways, and this trial is a direct response to those concerns," they said.

"The trial will be independently evaluated, and feedback gathered both online and face-to-face will inform how we manage safety at high-use waterways into the future.

"The community is encouraged to provide feedback on the trial through the Have You Say website or via QR codes on signage displayed at each trial location.

"Most powered vessel operators do the right thing, and this trial is about improving safety and perception for everyone, not penalising responsible users."

Both Transport for NSW Maritime and Marine Area Command Water Police are conducting daily patrols and compliance has been satisfactory.

To date, there have been minimal compliance actions with one caution and one educational intervention recorded.

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