Updated | Man found dead in Wattamolla lagoon following reports to police of people jumping from rocks

Popular Wattamolla lagoon in Royal National Park has claimed a sixth life in five years, with the death of a 27-year-old Nepalese student shortly after 5pm yesterday (Monday).

The fatality occurred just after paid lifeguards, who patrol the lagoon during summer, had finished for the day.

"Emergency services responded to reports that two people had got into difficulties after jumping from a rock ledge into Wattamolla Lagoon," a police statement said.

"A woman, aged in her 20s, was treated at the scene by ambulance paramedics and taken to hospital. Her condition is reported as stable.

"About 6.20pm, the body of a man, also believed to be aged in his 20s, was retrieved from the water.

"Officers from the Sutherland Shire Police Area Command attended and have commenced an investigation."

The Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter attended the scene, with a crewman lowered to the water to search for the missing man.

The tragedy comes two years after the death in January 2019 of a 20-year-old man, an Indian National, who went missing after he was last seen swimming in the lagoon in the late afternoon.

Three months earlier, in November, 2018, a man, 20, a Bangladeshi national, drowned after he and two friends jumped from rocks into the lagoon.

National Parks and Wildlife Service has erected fences and warning signs to deter jumping at the lagoon, which attracts up to 2500 visitors on busy days.

Surf Life Saving NSW said there had been six drownings at Wattamolla in the last five years.

The organisation's State Operations Centre was alerted to yesterday's emergency by a call to Triple Zero.

"A number of Surf Life Saving assets, including the Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter, were tasked to the scene," a statement said.

"Once on scene, a Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter crewman was winched down to the lagoon and commenced an underwater search for the missing man.

"He was assisted by Surf Life Saving Sydney Duty Officers, Joel Wiseman, Jackson Towns and an off-duty lifeguard."

Joel Wiseman said, "On arriving at Wattamolla, we immediately commenced a search of the lagoon for the missing man.

"The Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter crewman had flippers and goggles and was able to dive under the water.

"After 20 minutes of searching, he found the man who was about seven feet under the water," Joel Wiseman said.

"The Westpac Helicopter crewman managed to pull the man to the surface and we got him onto a rescue board and took him to shore where CPR was commenced.

"Unfortunately, despite the best efforts and swift actions of surf lifesavers and emergency service personnel, the man could not be revived and was pronounced deceased at the scene by a NSW Ambulance doctor."

The statement said the deceased man had been swimming in the Wattamolla Beach lagoon with a woman, who was treated by paramedics at the scene and taken to hospital conscious and breathing.

"There have been six drownings at Wattamolla Beach, in Sydney's Royal National Park, over the past five years and a total of 12 drownings/deaths at Royal National Park beaches in general - including Figure 8 Pools," the statement said.

"In recent years there has been a significant increase in the use of the Royal National Park with visitations up by 50.2 per cent between 2012 and 2018 to over six million visits per year and it is now the second busiest national park in the state."

"Wattamolla and Garie Beach are used by large numbers of people from a wide range of demographic backgrounds.

"This includes residents from Greater Sydney and Wollongong, as well as a large number of domestic and international visitors.

"Many of the visitors that use the Royal National Park beaches are considered high-risk swimming groups with many from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse communities.

"For this reason, Wattamolla beach is now patrolled by paid lifeguards during summer. Unfortunately, lifeguard services had finished for the day at the time the man disappeared in the lagoon.

"At the time of the incident there was a significant amount of thunderstorm activity in the area and lifeguards had warned a number of people not to swim in the Wattamolla Beach lagoon."

Mr Wiseman said the search and recovery of the man was a complex operation involving multiple emergency service personnel.

"Because Wattamolla Beach is in such a remote area and has limited mobile phone reception, emergency communications is very challenging," he said.

"However, we were able to quickly set up a portable radio repeater to assist police, NSW Fire and Rescue and other emergency services in the response."