Assistant Commissioner of the New South Wales police, Andrew Scipione, said intelligence reports indicated the weekend was going to be anything but ordinary after a week of apparent retaliatory attacks following the North Cronulla race riot.
More than two thousand police were on duty but most beach goers heeded warnings to stay away from the flashpoint areas of Cronulla, Coogee, Bondi and Maroubra.
Officers attached to Operation Seta arrested 18 people overnight, including five suspected white supremacists, allegedly caught in Brighton-le-Sands with a 25-litre drum of petrol and equipment that could be used to make fire bombs.
Two other men, a 19-year-old from Carlingford and an 18-year-old from Dandenong in Victoria will face court after allegedly being caught with petrol bombs on a public bus bound for Bondi.
Others to appear in court include a 19-year-old Long Jetty man, charged with affray after police allegedly found a text message in his mobile phone inciting racial violence in the Terrigal area north of Sydney.
A police spokesman says 149 people have been charged with 264 offences in Operation Seta while officers have seized 27 mobile phones and 15 cars.
Police presence
New South Wales Premier Morris Iemma says a heavy police presence will remain around Sydney's beaches and potential trouble spots for as long as necessary.
He says he understands some locals are frustrated at the high police numbers but claimed it is a fight for order and control of our streets.
The premier told ABC radio that there are hooligans out there who believe they have the right to determine who goes to beaches and streets and that's not on.
Mr Iemma says he'll consider installing surveillance cameras in certain beachside areas similar to the 18 cameras that have been set up in The Rocks area of Sydney.