Girl, 12, rescued from surf at schoolies party

A 12-year-old girl has been found "spaced out" in the surf after travelling to Surfers Paradise to party with the schoolies.

Queensland lifesavers dragged the girl, who was fully clothed, to safety after they saw her getting into trouble 50 metres from the shore, the Courier Mail newspaper reports.

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The girl was taken to the Gold Coast Hospital where she is in a stable condition and being interviewed by child protection officers.

Surfers Paradise club patrol captain Ken Lloyd told the Courier Mail he was shocked by the age of the girl and that her friends had confirmed they had wanted to join the schoolies party.

"The paramedics were very concerned ... she was very spaced out," the newspaper quoted Mr Lloyd as saying.

Up to 25,000 school leavers had poured into Surfers Paradise on Saturday night for the week long celebrations.

Night-time commander for schoolies, Inspector Jeff James, said police were as ready as possible for the week ahead.

"We don't reveal precise numbers of officers we have on the job, but tonight's as big an operation as New Year's Eve," he said.

"We've got them here from all around the southeast of the state, and we bring a lot of special units down to the Gold Coast, too.

"We've got detectives here from State Crime Operations Command and we've got specialist resources from Operations Support Command and that includes members of the Public Safety Response Team.

"And we obviously have other specialist resources that work with us."

Police say while tens of thousands are likely to attend organised concerts each night, the first Saturday night is traditionally the busiest of the week as school leavers start to let off steam.

Many didn't wait for the official start of festivities, with balcony parties kicking off through Saturday afternoon.

In high-rise apartment blocks along The Esplanade at Surfers Paradise groups of schoolies were on balconies, chatting, singing, and calling out to each other from one floor to another and between buildings.

Police have appealed to schoolies not to party on balconies.

Four years ago a teenager was killed during schoolies when he fell 11 storeys from a balcony in Surfers Paradise.

Police have also arrested a number of teenagers in recent years for climbing from one balcony to another on the outside of high-rise apartment blocks.

A group of eight Gold Coast schoolies from Coomera said their big party was off to a good start.

"There's no aggro and everyone's just out for a good time," said one.

"I think a lot of respect has to be given to the Gold Coast City Council for the work they've done in helping make the whole week a lot safer," he said.

"The message has really got through about sticking together and looking after your mates; that's what we'll be doing.

"Party on."

Salvatori from Brisbane said the first night of schoolies was a great way to start the week.

"Everyone's just out to have fun," he said.

"There might be a few idiots who want to cause trouble, but practically everyone just wants to blow off steam and have a great party."

Dean from Brisbane said kids were taking notice of the message, "Be safe and watch your mates".

"There's a lot of police around, and we're hearing a lot of stuff about no alcohol and no drinking," he said.

"I think schoolies is getting better and better each year.