Family members of a missing teenager were keeping an emotional vigil on a Northland beach last night - the latest incident in a horror start to the holiday season in the water.

A man who died at a south Auckland beach yesterday was trying out a new surf board he received as a Christmas present.

Surf rescuers fear a sand bar whipped up by stormy weather on Northland's Uretiti Beach where a crab hunter drowned on Christmas Day will endanger more lives over the holidays.

A male surfer waved for help and was pulled from the ocean by a member of the public at a South Auckland beach today.

Family members arriving at a Christmas Day get-together found police cars outside the home after a little relative drowned in a swimming pool set up in the backyard.

A 1-year-old child has drowned in a temporary backyard pool at a residential address in Manurewa today.

The toddler who drowned in a shallow pond on a farm near Westport has been named. She was 21-month-old Anamiek Manshande.

Police are investigating the circumstances around how a 21-month-old toddler drowned in a shallow pond that was fenced off.

A 21-month-old girl was playing outside her Westport home before she died after falling into a farm pond yesterday, police said.

Charges laid against four people over the death of an Ashburton man in June have been upgraded to manslaughter.

A desperate man managed to send two text messages to his partner after his boat sank, but they were dismissed as a joke.

Coroners' recommendations are being ignored and that needs to change to prevent more deaths, says a report.

Police are trying to establish whether there were more than one person involved in the death of Arran Gairns.

A Wellington woman will appear in Timaru District Court today charged with assaulting a man who was later found dead in an Ashburton industrial area.

A South Korean man has drowned after diving into a popular river rockslide pool to save two children.

The parents of the German teenagers presumed drowned in Foveaux Strait are returning home and say they know they are leaving their daughters behind.

The partner of a man who drowned at a beach known for its unpredictable conditions says a local motel owner told the family it was safe, new coroner's findings reveal.

Kiwis trying to save someone else made up half the people who drowned over summer - 'would-be' rescuers who perished while the person they tried to save survived.

More people drowned this summer than last, and would-be rescuers featured prominently in the toll.

A teenager drowned swimming across an artificial lake after seeing his mates having fun on the other side.

The brother of a 15-year-old boy who drowned while rescuing a young girl off Auckland's west coast says he lives in his brother's footsteps.

Fishing enthusiasts keen to set nets at a popular, but dangerous, Auckland beach should be wearing lifejackets, a coroner says.

A person has drowned near Ruakaka Beach in Northland today.