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With the weather worsening, five children had to be monitored jumping from K2 before being taken back to shore by the lifeboat crew during a "precarious" rescue mission.
The situation unfolded last night, after the children had been safely jumping from the large rock, slightly north of Grandes Rocques - known to successive generations as K2.
An emergency call for help was made at 20:05 last night with someone reporting that five children "appeared to be stranded on the K2 rock at Grandes Rocque".
Guernsey Police officers were sent to the scene and they then called for the St Peter Port Lifeboat to attend because of their concerns over the "rising tide and the rapidly approaching sunset".
The coastguard dispatched the St Peter Port Inshore Lifeboat (ILB) - the Elizabeth & Margaret Milligan - which sailed around the north of Guernsey to the west coast.
Pictured: Guernsey's inshore lifeboat (file image).
The ILB crew said there was "a heavy swell breaking all around K2 which made it impossible to get in close to the children" so it was decided that the five youths, who had already been jumping off K2, would all take turns jumping into the water with the volunteer lifeboat crew then pulling them into the ILB one at a time.
In a statement issued by Mike Harris, the Duty Search and Rescue Mission Coordinator, the coastguard said no one wants to stop children having fun but they are urged to be aware of their surroundings and the changeable conditions at all times.
“Although we would never wish to stop children having fun in and around our local marine environment, it is essential that they do so safely and are fully aware of their surroundings, and especially the time of the high tides. With the strong winds experienced over the past few days, a large swell had formed on the west coast and as such the area where the children had decided to enjoy the sea was extremely precarious.”
Each of the five children jumped safely from K2 for a final time, before being pulled by a safety rope onto the ILB. The group were all taken ashore at Port Soif where they were checked over by ambulance crews and "although very cold, all were found to be in good health".
The Inshore Lifeboat was back in St Peter Port by 21:30.
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