Choppy conditions are hampering the search for a swimmer who disappeared off a beach in Victoria's Mornington Peninsula.
Searchers have been scouring the waters of Number 16 Beach in Rye after a 20-year-old man went missing on Sunday.
The Cranbourne man was at the beach with a male and female friend when the two men entered the water to swim and were caught in a rip.
The friend, a man in his 20s, made it back to shore and was treated by paramedics before being transported to Frankston Hospital.
Air Wing, Lifesaving Victoria and Ambulance Victoria were alerted to the beach off Browns Road and Tasman Drive about 7pm where they commenced a search for the missing man.
Conditions around Victoria's coastlines had been "extremely difficult" over the weekend, Life Saving Victoria general manager Liam Krige said.
"(Rips) can carry people from five metres off the shore to very far out very quickly," he said.
Air and water police and SES crews recommenced the search on Monday as high winds and strong swells made conditions difficult for rescue crews.
Rescue teams are waiting for the waters to calm before they send in divers as search efforts shift to the west of the beach, Police Inspector Dean Delle-Vergini said.
"Unfortunately, due to the weather, that's not going to allow us to do so over the next day or two," he told reporters on Monday.
The man's father and two brothers were at the location while his mother and sister were too distraught.
"They're a large family and the missing male is the youngest in the family," Mr Delle-Vergini said.
"Our goal is to support the family in every way we can.
"We'll be throwing all our resources at trying to search for the missing man."
The Number 16 Beach is not patrolled and is recommended for experienced surfers only, according to the Visit Victoria tourism website.
"It's open to the ocean and it's fairly rough and it's always advised not to swim in the back beaches," Mr Delle-Vergini said.
Crews will continue their search until dark.
There have been 22 drownings in Victoria this summer, as lifesavers face a significant number of rescues across the coastline at patrolled locations, Mr Krige said on Monday.
People are travelling to "notoriously difficult" locations to rescue locations which happen to be unpatrolled leading to a record number of drownings, he said.
"One hundred per cent of drownings have been at unpatrolled locations."
Ambulance Victoria's emergency management boss Justin Dunlop said alcohol was playing a part in a lot of the incidents leading to rescues at waterways.
The incident comes after several significant incidents along the state's coastline at the weekend.
On Sunday afternoon, eight people were treated by paramedics and a man had to be winched from the beach after they were washed onto rocks at Cape Schanck, 20km from the Number 16 Beach in Rye.
A scuba diver died after being pulled unconscious from the water at Rye Pier on Saturday.
A man drowned after being trapped underneath his capsized tinny that was smashed with large waves in Barwon Heads, 20km southeast of Geelong on Saturday.
