A UV meter has been installed at one of the country's most popular beaches in a bid to improve sun safety.
In a New Zealand-first, the public safety sign has been unveiled today at Mount Maunganui beach – eight days before the official start of summer.
Gauging the power of the sun's ultraviolet rays, the sign converts its measurements into a UV index number – which is displaying with advice on when to use UV protection, and in the most extreme cases, when to seek shade.
New Zealand and Australia have the highest rates of melanoma in the world.
One of the people behind the sign, Dr Franz Strydom of Skinspots Skin Cancer Clinic, hopes it can help raise awareness about sun safety and encourage people to be safer in the sun.
"It measures the actual part of the sunlight that does the damage and causes cancer, UV light," Dr Strydom said.
"In the Bay of Plenty we are diagnosing between 10-20 melanomas a week. That's just melanomas and we're probably diagnosing by factor of 10 or 20 more other skin cancers that are not melanomas."
Skin cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in New Zealand, but is largely preventable, with more than 90 per cent of skin cancers related to excessive exposure to the sun.
The Cancer Society urges most caution between September and April and between 10am and 4pm when the levels of UV are at their highest.
Regularly applying sunscreen, covering up with clothing, finding shade and wearing hats and sunglasses are all recommended to avoid damage from UV rays.
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