Cousins caught in rip were 'a minute away from death'

Two of the rescued cousins are carried up the beach. Photo / Supplied

One of the people involved in the rescue drama off Hot Water Beach this week has told how he and his cousins fought desperately to get to shore - and says they would have died had they been in the water "a minute longer".

The man and his three cousins were at the Coromandel Peninsula beach with their families on Monday.

One of the men, who asked not to be named, said all four knew how to swim but got "carried away and started going further".

"Once the water level reached above our necks, we thought, 'That is enough', and we could go back. But we couldn't."

They were caught in a rip, which dragged them out to sea.

"As we swam about 4m to the shore, we got [pulled] back about 20m. Then we understood we were in trouble. We got, like, 100m away from the shore."

They floated on their backs for about 20 minutes but couldn't make any progress.

"Then we lost hope. I got separated from the three others. I tried again to swim back to the shore while the others started shouting for help."

A surfer went to the three cousins who were still together, and took them to safety.

The remaining man tried to get closer to the shore.

"I shouted for help and a young girl came with a surfboard and put me on it and she asked me to swim backwards, which I did. She carried me all the way to the shore."

He and all his cousins had now recovered from their ordeal and were able to thank their rescuers.

His message for anyone in the water this summer is for them to know what their limits are.