Nathan Bartlett Surfer Dies at Jervis Bay After Water Rescue

Nathan Bartlett surfer Nathan Bartlett died in the waters of Jervis Bay on Wednesday afternoon after emergency services pulled him from the water unresponsive. He was 43. The death landed hard across the South Coast surfing community, where Bartlett was known as one of the best on the region’s waves.

Jervis Bay Rescue

Emergency services were called at about 1.55pm on Wednesday, May 27, 2026, after reports of two surfers in trouble off the Cape St George Lighthouse just outside Jervis Bay. Officers from the South Coast Police District and Marine Area Command retrieved two men from the water.

The two men were Nathan Bartlett and his 38-year-old brother, Byron. Nathan was unresponsive when pulled from the water and died at the scene. Byron was assessed as a precaution by NSW Ambulance paramedics at the nearby Murrays Beach Boat Ramp.

Bartlett Family

Bartlett came from a prominent surfing family, and all three Bartlett brothers were accomplished boardriders on the South Coast. He was also a professional carpenter and a merchant mariner, a life that sat alongside years in the surf and in the local water community.

He was survived by his wife and two young children. A childhood friend and fellow surfer said, "We are all in shock. We are very saddened," and added, "I first met Nathan at a surfing contest in Ulladulla when he was 11 and I was seven. He was amazing on the big waves."

Desert Point Return

Bartlett’s reputation had already been shaped by a near-fatal surfing accident at Desert Point in Indonesia in 2017, when he suffered severe head and facial injuries before making a full recovery and returning to surfing. Tim Bonython called him "one of the best surfers to grace the wave" and said, "He was a free surfer and one of the best with the big waves," while another friend described him as "a lovely, confident guy who was all about his family. It was work, family, and surfing for him."

For the South Coast, the loss reaches beyond one afternoon at Jervis Bay. Bartlett was widely regarded as one of the finest surfers in Australia, and his death leaves a family, a surf community and a shoreline full of people who knew exactly how much he meant to the waves there.