Double tragedy: two Christmas Day drownings on Central Coast beaches

The Central Coast has been hit with a double Christmas Day tragedy, with two drownings on its beaches just hours apart.

At around 5pm, a man was pulled from the water at Copacabana Beach by member of the public, around 250 metres from the red and yellow flags.

Volunteer surf lifesavers were alerted to the incident and rushed to the location to take over CPR. Paramedics arrived shortly after however the man was declared deceased at the scene.

Lifeguards on patrol said the section of beach the man was pulled from had a riptide.

Earlier on Christmas Day, a man drowned just 20 minutes to the south at Umina Beach, bringing the number of confirmed summer beach drownings in the state to four.

At around 11am, a surfer was witnessed going underwater some 600m from the flagged area by family members.

The man was pulled from the water by members of the public unconscious and not breathing. They commenced CPR before patrol members from Umina Surf Lifesaving Club came on an all-terrain vehicle and took over the resuscitation attempts.

Paramedics arrived shortly after at the request of the lifeguards and continued CPR before the man was declared deceased at the scene.

Officers from Brisbane Water Police District will prepare a report for the Coroner; however, initial inquiries suggest the man may have suffered a medical episode.

It's the third confirmed coastal drowning of the summer and comes just hours after the search for a man was suspended at Lennox Head on the Far North Coast who has been missing since Sunday afternoon.

The man was swimming with friends on the Far North Coast before he came into trouble, with two of his friends self-rescuing.

Yesterday, a man on the South Coast was also pulled from the water at Culburra Beach, east of Nowra, and was transported to Shoalhaven Hospital following CPR attempts by patrol members of Nowra-Culburra SLSC in a life critical condition.

NSW averages six coastal drowning deaths during the month of December over the past five years. So far this summer, there have been two confirmed coastal drownings; at Birubi Beach in the Hunter and just outside Bermagui on the Far South Coast earlier in December.