KEY POINTS:
Hot sun and hefty waves boiling out of a warm sea had tens of thousands of people flocking to northern beaches yesterday, keeping lifesavers busy at Piha and other potential danger zones.
Piha Surf Life Saving Club patrol captain Anna Schubert said a crowd of 1300 to 1500 Easter holiday-makers made for a "big day" for the Auckland west coast beach, where her 17-strong team rescued five people from tidal rips and gave another five first-aid.
The tidal flow was particularly strong after the full moon on Saturday night.
But there was none of the high drama seen at Piha on Saturday, when a 28-year-old Henderson man of Sri Lankan descent was flown by helicopter to Auckland City Hospital in a critical condition after being swept more than 500m along the beach north of Lion Rock.
Two male relatives managed to support the man's head above the water until the trio landed on a sand bar and were helped ashore by an off-duty police officer, said senior lifesaver Jonathon Webber, who helped to stabilise him while the Whangarei-based Northern rescue helicopter was called.
A 16-year-old boy at Matapouri, on the east coast north of Whangarei, was rescued by occupants of a passing boat after being swept over rocks and suffering lacerations and concussion.
