A Sydney man has drowned at a beach in the Hunter region on Sunday morning after being swept into rough surf with another family member.
Emergency services were called to Fingal Beach at Port Stephens just after 10am following reports a man, believed to be in his 70s, was unresponsive in the water.
The man, who was part of a group of about 12 people swimming at the beach was swept out towards rocks at the northern edge of the beach.
He was pulled from the water where paramedics performed CPR.
He was unable to be revived, with NSW Police saying he is yet to be formally identified.
The younger person was able to return to safety.
Lifeguards at the beach said conditions at the time of the incident were "extremely choppy," with rough seas at high tide.
Just before 3pm in a separate incident, a man was pulled unconscious from the water at Killalea Beach in Shell Cove, just south of Wollongong.
NSW Police said the man believed to be in his 60's was given CPR but died at the scene.
Earlier in the day, the Bureau of Meteorology NSW (BoM) issued a hazardous surf warning for the Hunter, Sydney and Illawarra coastline after offshore waves reached heights of about 4 metres.
"And as those waves come in, there's a lot of energy behind them and they can be quite large and powerful," BoM forecaster Gabrielle Woodhouse said.
The warning is in place until Easter Monday but the rough conditions aren't expected to ease until mid-week.
"These waves are being driven from a cold front and low pressure system that has been making their way slowly across the Tasman Sea," Ms Woodhouse said.
"So what we've been seeing over the last few days is a pretty vigorous south-westerly airflow that has been generating these waves and now they're making their way along the NSW coast.
"We should start to see those conditions ease off later Tuesday, or perhaps early Wednesday."
Separate investigations are underway into both drowning deaths, and reports will be prepared for the coroner.
