A witness travelling on the Waiheke Link Ferry said he saw the car toppling down the cliff face from his spot in the middle of the harbour.
“We could see two people on the beach shortly afterwards presumably both occupants of the vehicle,” the witness told the Herald.
Another witness on the ferry said it “came straight down and then rolled a couple of times at the bottom”.
A resident told 1News: “the guys got out of the car and then the police boat picked them up and then dropped them off at Bucklands Beach to the waiting cops”.
“But all the ambulances were up on the cliff and didn’t come down. One guy was holding his arm and had a bit of blood on the back of his head, the other guy was totally unscathed.”
A second local, Kelly, told 1News that she and two other people decided to follow the “nine cop cars” as they raced through Highland Park to find out what was happening.
“We parked down at the Musick Point end of Bucklands Beach and saw a group of police talking to a young family.
“The lady had come over and told me what had happened - that a car was doing burnouts up the top of the cliff and lost control and went over.”
Kelly claimed she went and asked police “if they were dead”.
“The police boat pulled in right in front of me. They put the ladder out and these two guys sheepishly walked off the boat.
“I said, hello boys ... bloody wasting police time.
“I just thought ‘you idiots’.
“One guy looked like he had a broken arm, it was dangling - it looked dislocated and he had cuts to the back of his head.”
She told 1News “the other guy had a cut on his head as well”.
“What panicked me the most is that families picnic at the beach where that car landed, under the cliff. Imagine if they had been hit.
“I hope they lose their licence and get a fine for it.”