Former Wānaka Coastguard president Jonathan Walmisley has been volunteering for over a decade and witnessed the callouts rise from six to 30 a year.
"In the 13 years here and certainly the last eight years, there’s been a huge increase in things we do," Mr Walmisley said.
Callouts ranged from supporting police on search and rescue missions to assisting people whose boats had broken down on the lake, he said.
Most jobs were during summer.
Mr Walmisley said the increase in calls over the past decade was a reflection of the growth in the town.
"Every year there seem to be more people using the lake ... and the more people on the lake, the greater the opportunity that somebody will break down and need our help."
He was relieved most of the calls the Coastguard received were not too serious and attributed this to the regulations already in place to protect those on the lake.
The increased use of lifejackets was "a major contributing factor" for the low number of fatalities they got, he said.
Mr Walmisley was also pleased with the navigation bylaws the Queenstown Lakes District Council approved this year which meant any boat on the water had to be registered and carry identification.
He recently handed over the presidency to Dave Brown, a former training manager for the Coastguard in Sydney.
Mr Brown volunteered for six years with the Wānaka Coastguard and experienced the increase in demand the organisation was facing as more people came to enjoy the lake.
"I think incrementally as more people arrive in Wānaka, more people have got boats," he said.
"... Boats need to be serviced properly, and they need to be winterised."
Many of the jobs he had been called out on related to maintenance issues such as fuelling or electrical problems.
Mr Brown was also pleased with the navigation bylaw and the regulations in place to prevent accidents but thought education could be improved.
The Coastguard had a boating education arm but as a response agency, they needed support to raise awareness around boat safety, he said.
