A popular Co Kerry bathing spot should have between five and six lifeguards on duty when the beach is busy.
An inquest into the deaths of a brother and sister, was also told that swimmers should be given an oral warning about the danger of riptides.
The two recommendations were made by Coroner Helen Lucey who returned a verdict of death due to misadventure in the deaths of 51-year-old Desmond Byrne of Carrigeen More, Lecarrow, Co Roscommon and his 62-year-old sister, Muriel Eriksson of Malmo, Sweden who drowned while swimming together at the Men's Beach, in Ballybunion on 4 August last year.
Josh Byrne, 13, the son of Desmond Byrne, was also in the water at the time but managed to get ashore.
The inquest in Listowel heard from 17 witnesses, including holidaymakers and lifeguards who were on the beach at the time, as well as from the partner of the late Mr Byrne.
Paulette Daly said Muriel Eriksson was home from Sweden on holidays and Desmond, Muriel and Josh headed off in their camper van. They rang from Bunratty to say they were thinking about going to Kerry and this was the last she heard from them until she was contacted by the gardaí.
"I couldn't believe it. Our hearts are broken," Ms Daly said in her statement to the court.
Coroner Helen Lucey said it was "nothing short of a miracle that Josh is alive today".
On the evening of the tragedy there were four lifeguards on duty when normally there would be five or six, the inquest heard.
The Coroner paid tribute to 15-year-old Ruairí Walsh from Carrigrohane, in Cork who was on his surfboard in the water.
He showed "impeccable behaviour" in raising the alarm in relation to Desmond Byrne, when alerted by a scream from the shore, Ms Lucey said.
The teenager waved his surfboard over his head to get a lifeguard's attention and gave the arm lift sign to bring first aid.
'The current had been very bad'
The inquest heard how lifeguards became concerned there might be a second person missing after establishing that Josh Byrne was the dead man's son and seeing three pairs of shoes and finding lady's clothes and a watch in a bag.
The lifeboat was launched and Garda Omar Fitzell, who is also a member of the Ballybunion Sea Cliff and Rescue, told the court of finding a woman "partially submerged", some 100 metres from the water line.
Head lifeguard Dominic Horgan, from Tralee said the lifeguards had been keeping the crowd back from the middle section between the two beaches where there was a severe rip current.
The current had been very bad "and that was our main priority all summer", Mr Horgan said in his statement. He told the Coroner that there had been two lifeguards on each beach, and flags to indicate where to swim, and that lifeguards were blowing whistles to keep people away from the rip current.
Lifeguard Noah Edwards, of Tralee, said Mr Horgan had also been in the water telling people about the rip currents.
Mr Edwards said that at the time they were "down to four" lifeguards - normally it was five or six.
Coroner Helen Lucey extended her sympathies to Ms Daly, on the death of her partner Desmond Byrne, and his siblings and all the family.
Ms Eriksson's husband had since passed away in Sweden, the Coroner noted.
These were healthy people as detailed in the post-mortem report "and this is a tragic accident", the Coroner added.
"There was a cloud over Ballybunion because of this incident," she said.
