A Rotorua family were paddling knee-deep in the water at Pukehina Beach when they were joined by a couple of sharks.
The Thompson family were visiting friends for the day on Saturday at Pukehina and decided to go for a swim at the beach.
Heather Thompson said her children and husband were paddling in the water about knee-deep when they spotted two sharks swimming about 100m from them.
Thompson said they were distracted by a plane doing aerobatics in the sky before her daughter yelled: "Sharks, sharks!".