A swimmer believed to be at the centre of a large search operation on Monday at Haumoana has avoided a fine.
Police say they've decided to educate rather than charge or fine the man for breaching alert level 4 restrictions by swimming at the beach on Monday.
Emergency services were contacted after two people spotted what they believed was a swimmer who appeared to be struggling in the water off Haumoana south of Napier, about 11.20am on Monday.
A search was launched and included a helicopter, emergency services, the Coastguard and a Surf Callout squad before it was called off by police after about two hours.
![Emergency services searching for a swimmer off the coast of Haumoana on Monday.](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/O3ZQRUK2HNDCJF3KMJNG6L2LVM.jpg?auth=cbcf312b5f17da1ee5f89c644b5f1031ec7dd3ad638b99c628e97adcdc053092&width=16&height=11&quality=70&smart=true)