Sporadic reports suggest dreaded perennial beach visitor, the ‘Mount mauler', is active again on the beach for which it is named.

Residents in Mount Maunganui and Papamoa have been sharing their encounters with the insect on Facebook.

Rochelle Stewart managed to snap a photo of one and says they're rampant in the soft sand on the beach.

'When bitten you come out like chicken pox and it's not nice at all. It's not until a little bit after being bitten that you get the full effects.

'I remember years ago getting bitten and thinking it was chicken pox. I got a week off work for it because I worked with food. Apparently you can't normally get chicken pox twice and I already had had them as a kid.”

She says she sees lots of people in the sand and tries to tell people to watch out for the mauler.

'It's too late to be told after the fact, though, especially for kids and babies.”

An extreme example of the damage the mauler can cause. File photo.

Unichem Mount Dispensary pharmacist Rowena Fu says a number of people came in over the Christmas and New Year period complaining of being bitten.

'During the holiday period we probably saw about four cases a day. Some of them were pretty bad. They were mainly on the legs, although some were on the trunk also.”

She says it hasn't been as bad as previous years though. Most people get them just on their feet.

'They can take a few days to heal. We give anti-histamine oral tablets and a topical cream to reduce the itching.”

Although there's no real way of warding them off, people can take a simple step to protect themselves from the bites while sunbathing.

'What we tell people is to not lie on the dry sand, lie on the wet sand instead.”

In other words – stay below the high tide mark and you should be bite-free this summer.