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A woman from Plettenberg Bay has been commended for raising the alarm on her neighbour whom she thought had gone missing at sea.
National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) spokesperson Craig Lambinon says a 58-year-old local man went for a swim at Sanctuary Beach on Friday afternoon and was spotted by a neighbour hanging his towel on the lifeguard tower.
He says the woman went for her walk on the beach and upon her return, she did not see the man in the water.
She thought that he might have drowned as his towel was still hanging on the tower.
Lambinon says the NSRI Plettenberg Bay crew immediately responded along with several of its rescue swimmers.
He says while the search operation continued they tried to get more information about the man to determine if he may have made it out of the water.
The NSRI received the contact details of the manager of the complex where the man was living and he was found safe at home and unaware that a rescue operation had been launched.
The swimmer was very apologetic but the NSRI simply expressed their delight that he was safe.
