A BRINSMEAD man has been discharged from Cairns Base Hospital after being stung by an irukandji jellyfish in a dive excursion gone wrong.

Malcolm Frost, 26, was diving with friends at Double Island late on Tuesday when he was stung.

He was taken to Palm Cove where lifeguards were alerted about 5.15pm.

Lifeguard Lana Shanks, who was on duty at Palm Cove, said Mr Frost was in severe pain and had difficultly breathing.

Ms Shanks called an ambulance before administering bottled oxygen to Mr Frost and using three bottles of vinegar to treat the stinger wound on his lower back.

"When you’ve already used vinegar and administered oxygen, you just need to reassure them," Ms Shanks said of stinger victims.

"They’re very restless and they won’t sit still.

"When you looked into his face, you just knew he was in pain."

While Mr Frost was wearing a dive suit when he was stung, North Queensland Surf Lifesaving regional manager Colin Sparkes said the irukandji barb may have penetrated through a tear in the suit or an exposed area of skin.

"It just shows how potent they (jellyfish) are, it doesn’t take too much exposed skin to be stung," he said.

Lycra dive suits also differ from stinger suits, with the latter using a thicker material and providing greater protection with socks, gloves and hoods.

Also yesterday, Mr Sparkes said he was "pretty confident" of reopening the northern beaches today, pointing to a change in southeasterly wind and no recorded stinger catches from yesterday. "We are very hopeful of opening beaches as weather conditions change for the better," he said.

As it stands, Port Douglas, Green Island, Bramston Beach, Etty Bay, Kurrimine Beach, Mission Beach, South Mission Beach and Fitzroy Island were open for business yesterday.

Visit www.northqueenslandlifesaving.com for beach updates and information.

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