Photo: Supplied / Police
Emergency crews already rescuing two people have had to rescue a third who was taking photos of the ordeal.
Police were called about 8.30am to the Whiritoa blowhole in Coromandel where the first two people got caught by the incoming tide and big surf.
One of them had a suspected broken leg.
But while that person was being winched out of the blowhole, another man taking photos from the rocks got washed into the surf.
"While we were winching the injured man out of the blowhole we heard about someone else who was watching the rescue," Sergeant Bradley York said.
"He'd been taking photos from rocks nearby then been washed off into the surf," he said.
"We had to divert away from the initial rescue, and shift to the more urgent situation where he was in the sea."
Rescue crews went back to the first scene to rescue the remaining man after winching the bystander from the water.
Police, Fire and Emergency, Surf Life Saving and the Auckland rescue helicopter were all involved.
"This was a good reminder to members of the public to exercise caution near the sea as conditions can change rapidly," York said.
York told RNZ people could walk to the blowhole at low tide.
"As the tide comes in, the lagoon swamps and blocks access back out and then on the other side the surf comes through the hole and into the open area where they were.
"As the tide was coming in, and with that swell, the risk was increasing to them," he said.
York said Police by chance saw the man who was taking photos come off the rocks, which sparked the second rescue.
"The guys still in the blowhole, there was still time and with an incoming tide there was still a risk to them but the person in the surf was a higher priority and more at risk.
"The high tide was two o'clock and the surf and the swell was described as four to six metre surf, so big surging waves, so it adds risk to people," he said.
According to York, the swell was so big Surf Lifesaving couldn't get near the area, so the only option was to winch them out to safety.
It's a good example of just being mindful of our marine environment, York said.
'Very very lucky'
Surf Life Saving said the man who was taking photos was extremely lucky.
"It was definitely large conditions today, a lot of water moving around, and in this particular spot it is sheer cliffs and jagged rocks," eastern manager Chaz Gibbons-Campbell told RNZ.
"They've slipped in while they were climbing over some rocks and of course the strong currents have just pulled them straight through the blowhole and spat them out the other side essentially, he's remained calm, he's floated on his back which is really good," he said.
"And then luckily the rescue chopper spotted him, they've stopped their winching operation and they've winched this man out of the water, brought him to safety and then gone back to complete the rescue of the young adults that had gone inside the blowhole."
Gibbons-Campbell said the many submerged rocks stopped the Surf Life Saving IRB getting close.
"And just the sheer size of the waves just kept this gentleman close to the cliffs so the lifeguards were unable to get the boat in to get him, so the only option was the winch and it was just lucky that they were on scene to do that," he said.
He said the first rescue that was underway was time critical, and in an hour's time the pair would have been fully submerged in the blowhole.
"Very very lucky, the next step is the FENZ rope crew which was a couple of hours away so luckily the Westpac [Rescue Helicopter] was there," he said.
