The return of the Eastern Region Championships to its 'spiritual” home of Mount Maunganui highlights a massive month for Bay of Plenty surf lifesavers in January.

Serious competition begins this weekend, with the Papamoa, Mount Maunganui and Omanu clubs sending large squads down to the Gisborne Championships at Midway Beach, followed a week later by the Papamoa Junior Invitational and the Omanu Day of Champions.

New Zealand's best surf lifesavers have a busy month ahead of them, with the Eastern Region Championships in Mount Maunganui a major attraction. Photo by Jamie Troughton/Dscribe Media Services.

That provides the perfect lead-in to the Eastern Region showpiece on Auckland Anniversary weekend, which will see more than 1000 lifeguards from around New Zealand attending and competing, after the last two ERCs were held successfully in Whangamata.

'The ERCs have been running for more than 50 years and it's pretty special to be able to bring them back to their spiritual home in Mount Maunganui,” says SLNZ eastern region sports manager Scott Bicknell.

'We're adding a few modern twists to all that history this year, to make it more enjoyable for the athletes and to make sure the event remains relevant with the viewing public.

'It's a great opportunity to showcase the role our lifeguards play on our beaches over summer and to help the public understand why surf sports competition plays such a vital role in saving lives.”

A fleet of drones will provide aerial video coverage of the two-day carnival, while Bicknell and his event management team have also tweaked the beach set-up to make it more spectator friendly.

There will also be lifeguarding displays and a mini surf lifesaving expo in the main competition hub.

Bicknell believes the event's return to Mount Maunganui's Main Beach has a serious economic impact on Tauranga, with the competitors supported by a host of parents and team management, all needing accommodation and food.

The ERCs are traditionally the biggest carnival on the surf lifesaving calendar behind the national championships, with many competitors also staying an extra day this year, taking part in a Super 9 inter-club invitation competition planned for the Monday Anniversary holiday at Main Beach.

Hosts Mount Maunganui will go into the ERCs as defending champions, after easing to a comprehensive 49-point win in the overall point standings ahead of Red Beach and Papamoa last year.

That's not the end of the frenetic first month of the year for surf events either - a week later, the Papamoa club will revive the annual Papamoa Classic IRB carnival on January 31.

Organiser Justin Martin has attracted a big contingent of crews from all over New Zealand to the event, which will have an emphasis on old-school fun and white-hot competition.

Key surf dates:

Jan 10 - Gisborne championships (Midway)

Jan 17 - Papamoa Junior Invitational (Papamoa)

Jan 18 - Omanu Day of Champions (Omanu)

Jan 24-25 - Eastern Region Championships (Mount Maunganui)

Jan 26 - Super 9 Invitational (Mount Maunganui)

Jan 31 - Papamoa IRB Classic (Papamoa)