KEY POINTS:
As the sun rises over this beautiful beach, they watch and wait.
As the sweltering summer day progresses, they watch and wait.
Some gather in the only bit of shade, under the lifeguard look-out, as the black sands of the West Coast beach grow so burning hot they are too blistering to stand on barefoot.
Other people are perched on the rocks staring at the sea; more stand motionless along the water's edge or walk up and down the beach, scouring the shoreline.
But still the sea does not return Sonny Fai, beloved brother and cousin, son and boyfriend, and budding New Zealand Warrior, tipped for greatness.
The ocean is no respecter of size, nor of muscle. Fai was bigger even than his rugby league captain, Steve Price, who broke down in tears earlier in the week, refusing to believe the 20-year-old may be dead.
At 1.92m high and weighing 109kg, the young man was unable to overpower the currents at notorious Bethells Beach where he disappeared on Sunday evening, swept away after saving his younger brother who had become caught in a rip.
Even the strongest swimmers can get into trouble in the rips on this long and wild coastline which takes in Karekare, Piha and Muriwai beaches.
Eighty six lives have been lost on this stretch since 1980.
Though the searchers wait at Bethells Beach, where Fai was taken, it may not be here that he returns.
Locals say the tidal currents may have taken him north and he could be found at Muriwai.
As each day passes, hopes of finding him alive diminish.
Yet, despite so long in the sea, among those waiting for his return are some who believe if anyone can survive, Sonny can. He was strong and fit and full of life, an athlete in his prime.
On Wednesday, along from some of the messages written in the sand - "Come home, Sonny" and "We are waiting for you Sonny" - sit a group of young men wearing yellow De La Salle College shirts.
Fai went to school at the Christian college and among the group is his friend Cedric Su'e who has come to wait for him. He's alive, says Cedric.
"We just know we'll find him. He'll be alive."
When he does come out of the sea after so long he will be hungry and cold, so the boys have brought with them blankets and food, and towels to dry him. Cedric says if you believe in God, anything can happen.
At De La Salle, they called Sonny "Big Chest".
"At school he was lifting over the amount he was supposed to be lifting."
Everybody loved him, Cedric says.
"When we'd play rugby at school, everyone would call out their favourite player and when he grabbed the ball, I'd always call out 'Sonny Fai!' and he'd just smile at me."
Cedric loved that smile.
"He's got that De La Salle attitude where he just steps into a room with strangers and no one can hate him 'cause of that smile."
Cedric's hope and dream is that Sonny will float back to shore and give one of his big smiles when he sees everyone waiting for him.
It's hard, though, the waiting, says Cedric.
"It's really sad. But we know he'll come back. Yeah. He'll come back safely."
Another watcher, sitting on the rocks near where Fai disappeared, also thinks he could be alive, perhaps trapped in one of the caves waiting to be found.
It is possible, says policeman Shawn Wanden, who was in the lifeguard tower on Wednesday.
Anything is possible.
There are quite a few caves and hollows around the beach but to search them all would put people at risk.
They are too difficult to get to, the waves and currents are dangerous.
It's not likely Fai is in a cave, though.
Wanden says from a police viewpoint Fai is still a missing person and will remain so until he turns up, or more likely, his body turns up.
Most people who drown do turn up, he says.
Wanden is also a lifesaver at Karekare Beach and has been involved in many searches over the years.
There are good reasons for the advice to swim between the flags and to be aware of the risks and the currents, he says.
On Wednesday, though the waves were not huge, lifeguards had put the red and yellow flags showing the area designated for swimming only 20 metres or so apart.
Throughout the day whistles blew, signalling back swimmers who continually drifted outside the flags and towards danger.
On duty was lifeguard Joseph Mulgrew who pointed out where the rips were. Even so, they were hard to see and this is especially so on the west coast, said Mulgrew.
Rips are the calm patches between the breaking waves, but even then you can have a calm patch that is a rip with waves coming through. They are treacherous on this coast.
"It doesn't matter how strong you are and how good a swimmer, there are rips on the west coast that even very strong swimmers can't swim against."
The important thing to know is what to do when you get caught in one - or, better still, how to avoid getting caught.
Panicking is the worst thing you can do, he says.
The advice is to relax in a rip, don't fight it, and float and go with it.
If you do this and you are swimming at a beach patrolled by lifeguards, you may have a chance of being seen and being rescued.
Before Christmas, Watersafety New Zealand General Manager Matt Claridge urged people to be careful during the holiday period.
Many people who normally act responsibly let their guards down this time of year and this can lead to poor decision making, he said.
Sadly, the warning wasn't heeded and 10 people drowned, the same number of deaths for the holiday period as last year.
Claridge says if anything positive can come out of the disappearance of Sonny Fai, it's that the water safety message gets across.
New Zealand waters are unforgiving, he says, and while he'd love to see drowning statistics of zero, that's not reality.
"Our coastline is rugged, our geography is diverse.
"The high energy environments of turbulent, dynamic waters and our marine and weather conditions lend themselves to being flippant and extremely unforgiving."
Plan ahead, he says, and let people know where you are going and what you are doing, and make sure you have the right equipment.
Even so, sometimes tragedies simply just happen.
Nearly a week has gone by since Sonny Fai disappeared. At Bethells Beach, the waiting goes on.
Fatalities on Auckland's West Coast beaches, from swimming and fishing from the rocks and beach, since 1980
Bethell's Beach 12
Flat Rock, Muriwai 5
Muriwai14
Karekare 11
Lion Rock, Piha3
North Piha7
Piha 22
White's Beach, Piha 2
Whatipu 10
Total lives lost 86
