One fisherman drowned and three others spent hours clinging to their boat after it capsized in the mouth of the Manukau Harbour.

Coastguard leaders say many boaties rescued by its volunteer crews refuse to pay the $280 an hour fee to cover the charity's costs.

Incidents of tourists hiking in rugged terrain in Jandals and running out of food while out camping have led to the development of a NZ outdoors code.

Fears are growing for a Kiwi teenager missing in rough Queensland surf since Monday morning.

Surf lifesavers are pleading with the public to take care in the water after a spate of drownings.

The search for a man feared drowned at Piha beach, west of Auckland, continued this morning.

Murray McCully has urged experts meeting in Wellington to recommend ways of preventing a tourist boat disaster from ever happening in Antarctica.

Rescuers have recovered the body of a man from Mount Aspiring National Park after he fell 30-40 metres down a bluff on Saturday night.

A fisherman whose boat sank in the middle of the night was so determined not to surrender it that he swam the waterlogged vessel nearly 1km to safety.