Nearly 900 people had to be rescued from the water over summer, according to Surf Life Saving New Zealand's patrol data released on Thursday.
Surf lifeguards rescued 883 people from the start of October through to May 3, which is actually a decrease compared to the previous summer.
That equates to about 29 rescues every week.
There were also 191 searches for people who went missing.
Steve Fisher, chief executive of Surf Life Saving, said most rescues happened north of Waikato.
He said that was likely due to a bigger population and the popularity of northern holiday hotspots.
"However, beaches were busy around the country, with fine weather and warm temperatures luring thousands to the coastline," Fisher added.
Surf lifeguards spent more than 240,000 hours on patrol during summer, across 92 locations around Aotearoa.
"They spend the winter months training, educating and upskilling so that come the busy summer period they are prepared and ready," said Fisher.
Although there was a drop in rescues, the number of preventative actions rose by a third to 40,000.
That's because surf lifeguards increasingly must stop potentially dangerous situations from arising, according to Fisher.
"For example, beachgoers may be about to enter an area where a rip is and surf lifeguards ask them to move to a different area," he added.
Many surf lifeguards had extended hours too - weekend patrols at some Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland beaches went until 8pm.
"While surf lifeguards are there to keep watch over beachgoers, extended patrols do put a strain on our surf lifeguards as they are giving up their own valuable time," Fisher said.
Surf lifeguards also saw more patients in need of first aid - attending 200 major incidents and 1500 minor ones.
Coromandel, Bay of Plenty and Gisborne all saw a rise in spinal injuries and dislocated limbs.
Fisher said that may be due to sandbanks along the east coast of the North Island/Te Ika a Māui having changed following severe storms - making them dangerous in some parts for swimmers and body boarders.
"However, surf lifeguards are equipped to deal with situations like this as they're all trained in first aid and work closely with Hato Hone St John when needed."
