Surf Life Saving's Operation Supervisor Laura Stephens said lifeguards were working with police to search for the missing person. Photo: RNZ / Rayssa Almeida
Searchers are still hunting for a missing swimmer after one person died and several were hurt after getting into difficulty at Opoutere Beach on Wednesday morning.
RNZ understand a family of seven were involved in the water incident.
Surf Life Saving's Operation Supervisor Laura Stephens said lifeguards were working with police to search for the missing person.
"Our focus has been on an unaccounted-for swimmer, so all of our assets have been focused on finding them.
"So we've had several crews on the water since this morning, and are still ongoing."
Beanland-Stephens said if searchers could not locate the swimmer on Wednesday, searches would resume on Thursday morning.
The search continued on Wednesday evening for a person who was still missing. Photo: RNZ / Rayssa Almeida
Two rescue boats and two jet-skis were being used for the search, she said.
St John said three helicopters, three ambulances and two managers responded to the beach, north of Whangamatā in the Coromandel, after getting a call about the incident at 11.27am, when people saw a group of seven signalling for help.
About 3.30pm, police said six people were pulled from the water.
One was in a critical condition and unable to be revived, and four were in minor-to-moderate conditions.
St Johns said one person airlifted to Waikato hospital in a critical condition remains in a serious but stable condition.
A camper near the scene of a Coromandel drowning earlier today says the beach is typically safe this time of year.
Six people were rescued from the water at Opoutere Beach earlier today, one still remains missing.
Nathan, who has been visiting the beach for many years, said today was like nothing he's seen.
"Generally at this time of year it's pretty safe. You get the cyclones come down and you get a big swell.
"We've never seen anything like this before, have we?"
Police, who were also at the scene, said a fixed-wing aircraft would assist with the search.
Emergency services at Opoutere Beach on Wednesday. Photo: RNZ / Rayssa Almeida
Coastguard senior communications advisor Ben Parsons earlier said volunteers from Auckland Coastguard Air Patrol were on their way to Opoutere to help search for the missing swimmer.
Whangamatā Surf Life Saving Club said on Facebook that the search-and-rescue underway involved lifeguards from several clubs.
Wednesday's operation followed another incident on Tuesday when a swimmer at Whangamatā died outside of lifeguard patrol hours, the Surf Life Saving Club said.
It warned swimmers to know their limits and to swim between the flags at patrolled beaches.
Surf Lifesaving's National Lifesaving Manager Andy Kent said the group were likely to have been swimming - and that Opoutere Beach was unpatrolled.
It was a reminder for people to only swim between the flags in a patrolled area, he said.