Four adults and three children had to be rescued from the edge of a cliff after the rising tide surprised them.
The family were walking along the base of the cliffs at North Head lookout at Murramarang National Park in Durras, on the NSW South Coast, on Sunday morning when the tide started coming in.
They phoned police for help at about 9am and spent hours climbing 10m up the cliff face while waiting for the SES to arrive.
Police had initially called Westpac Rescue Helicopters to save the group but it was determined it was too risky as the helicopters may have blown them off the rocks.
Eurobodalla SES commander Peter Collins told News.com.au it took three hours to successfully help each family member onto higher ground, going one at a time.
'I knew this was not going to be an ordinary rescue. This was a very, very dangerous situation,' he said.
'They were so close to the waves breaking at the bottom and I thought, gosh, if a huge wave comes in, it's going to wash them straight off and they'd be gone.'
The NSW SES Moruya and NSW SES Batemans Bay Units created an Arizona Vortex frame at the top of the cliff and abseiled down to where the family were.
Four adults and three children were rescued from a cliff face in Durras
The family had been walking at the base of the cliff when the tide rose
Rescuers abseiled to collect each family member, one at a time
Each of the four adults and three children were then pulled to the top where a temporary first aid station was created.
'The crew spent over three hours retrieving each person one by one,' NSW SES wrote online.
'This involved lowering our operators 40 metres down the cliff face and then hauling each casualty back to the top.
'Although tired and cold, everyone rescued was in good spirits and glad to be back on high ground.'
The family were a little battered and bruised but suffered no serious injuries.
Mr Collins said it was the biggest rescue mission he'd been involved in and a timely reminder for people to beware of tides when walking on beaches.
'When you're walking around rock edges, you need to be really aware of what could happen, especially when there are big waves,' he said.
'Basically the rule is, if the rock is wet, don't go there.'
The family climbed 10 metres to avoid the incoming waves
No serious injuries were reported from the incident
SES crews spent three hours winching everyone to safety
NSW SES had its second-busiest year on record in 2025.
Volunteers were called to more than 60,000 incidents and answered over 140,000 calls.
The highest volume of calls were in January, March and May, linked to major storm and flooding events.