O'ahu ocean safety officials, mindful of record visitor arrivals and an unflagging public fascination with huge winter waves on the North Shore, will expand lifeguard service to two beaches where they have made "thousands of rescues" in recent years.

Currently, a two-lifeguard team working out of a pickup truck monitors both Laniakea Beach and the Chun's Reef area of Kawailoa Beach during the winter, when the waves reach their greatest heights.

But the team has to make choices about which beach to watch based on ever-changing surf conditions, said Jim Howe, operations chief with the city Ocean Safety Division.

North Shore lifeguards often send mobile crews or a supervisor to help the team watch the area when conditions get unruly, but they have to leave if an emergency calls them somewhere else, Howe said.

"It is not totally unguarded if it is really critical," Howe said. "We are having to make choices on how to best utilize our assets day to day."

Howe wants consistency, and to achieve that, he plans to add a second pair of lifeguards who would be dedicated to the Laniakea-Chun's Reef area. The beaches are less than a mile apart but a small headland between them prevents lifeguards at one spot from seeing the other spot.

"We are going to increase the staffing so we can have two lifeguards at each area rather than have two lifeguards try to cover that whole stretch of coastline," Howe said. "It is going to make our North Shore a safer place for people who are not super familiar with it."

Dr. Libby Char, director of the city Department of Emergency Services, which oversees the lifeguards, said the changes will take effect this winter.

Having lifeguards dedicated to each beach will shorten response time, a critical factor in an emergency, she said.

"In the winter, the surf really kicks up pretty big out there," she said. "The conditions are dangerous, and if somebody needs to be rescued, time is of the essence."

The current lifeguard setup, begun five years ago, has proven its worth over and over again, Howe said.

"They have done thousands of rescues over the last five years and have had a positive impact," Howe said. "Those areas are some of the most heavily used areas during the winter."

Before the team's arrival, rescues were sometimes done by off-duty lifeguards surfing the area or neighborhood residents along Papa'iloa Road and Pohaku Loa Way.

The area features several popular surf breaks, and on a good winter day, more than 200 surfers can be in the water at the same time.

Veteran big-wave surfer Jock Sutherland, who has lived between the two locations for 45 years, said he has rescued 10 to 15 people who were in serious trouble. So has his mother.

"If we could increase the lifeguard presence over there, I can't see how that would be a bad thing," he said. "Unless you have experience in that or training and experience, the people who are going out to try and save them, they get in trouble. That happens a lot."

Michael Lyons, vicechairman of the North Shore Neighborhood Board, has heard his share of stories about local residents jumping into the ocean to rescue tourists who misjudged the surf.

"If you are unfamiliar with it, the ocean can really surprise you," Lyons said.

Even Howe has rescued people while surfing the area.

"It's a very dangerous location," he said. "The rip currents at Laniakea, when it gets bigger, it is a killer. They are powerful and they go a long way."

The desire to add lifeguards comes from an increased awareness of the North Shore's popularity, Howe said. Visitor arrivals have reached or surpassed record levels statewide in the last two years — there were 7.3 million visitors in 2005, a record — and they come seeking the state's most attractive feature: its beaches.

But those same alluring beaches can become a dateline for trouble.

About 30 nonresidents a year drown across the state, according to state Health Department statistics on near-drownings. That number doubles to about 60 when you add residents.

There were two drownings near Laniakea in the last 13 years. A 38-year-old local man drowned in 1993 while free-diving, and a 24-year-old local man drowned in 1997 while swimming.

There was only one recent death at Chun's Reef: in 1998 a 69-year-old local male drowned while free-diving.

Near-drownings occur much more frequently, but the numbers are kept on a statewide basis.

About 125 nonresidents a year require hospitalization, and more than 500 a year require emergency room treatment.

Howe said the City Council approved 10 new full-time lifeguards and 10 full-time equivalent positions — or about 55 part-time lifeguards — for the fiscal year that began July 1. The new positions will allow ocean-safety officials to turn part-time employees into full-timers and hire people for vacant slots.

Ocean safety officials have a rough idea on where they will place them.

In addition to hiring lifeguards, the city's ocean-safety efforts have involved the ongoing replacement of all 30 of its existing lifeguard towers. But the ocean safety budget does not allow for new towers, which cost $25,000 before shipping and installation.

Reach Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com.