Northern lifeguards saved 13 lives and worked 720 hours on Boxing Day and blame the inflatables for the blow up of incidents.

A Surf Life Saving spokesman says the popular Christmas present holds many risks, especially for children who are quickly being pushed out of their depth when the offshore winds are blowing.

Northern Region chief executive Matt Williams says inflatables are made for the pool - not the beach.

"Just like you wouldn't ride the jet ski in the pool, you wouldn't use inflatable pool toys in the ocean. With Nothern Region environment there's not much time where these pool toys are going to be suitable," he says.

Young children and teenagers don't expect to end up in trouble when using the inflatables and end up in panic when they are far from the shore.

"They wanted to just float in the sea, take some insta shots on their inflatable unicorn or swan and then unknowingly they end up 400m in the sea, in the panic situation.

"They [inflatable toys] are great for insta shots but not so great for the beach and surf environment," Williams says.

Four people on an inflatable pontoon were blown out of the sea in Omaha and two of them received First Aid and treatment for minor cuts on Boxing Day.

Long Bay's lifeguards also rescued two teenage girls on inflatable sheep who were blown into the sea. The most exhausted was brought in by one of the lifeguards on a rescue board and the other with a rescue tube.

A heavily intoxicated woman was also found distressed in deep water in Long Bay yesterday.

On the day, lifeguards also performed over 800 preventative actions involving more than 3500 people.

Willams hopes beach-lovers stay safe during summer holidays and don't use swimming pool toys in the ocean.

"We all love the beach and we want everyone to enjoy it," he says.