Two men have been rescued after becoming stranded on rocks while fishing off Port Waikato on Monday.
The fishermen became stuck on a large rock off Sunset Beach during the rising tide, with rescuers battling large swells to get the pair to safety.
A police spokesperson told Newshub the men had arrived at the beach around 6am on Monday, to fish, and got caught out by the tide at around 11:15am.
"The rocks are south of the beach and are submerged during a high tide," they said.
The Westpac Rescue Helicopter responded and was able to winch the two men back to shore at 1:20pm, where an ambulance assessed them.
In a post to Facebook, Sunset Beach Lifeguard Service described it as a "major rescue".
"Lifeguards were preparing to go on patrol and spotted fishermen on rocks with incoming tide and large seas," the post read.
Once lifeguards reached the rocks where the fishermen were, one crewman, Jack Avery, swam in to assess further.
"There were two fishermen on the rocks in serious distress with no way of getting off the rocks. The swell was too large to safely affect a rock rescue given the patients' lack of swimming ability and English," they said.
"At this point the call was made for helicopter assistance via winch."
Meanwhile, Avery remained near the patients to keep them calm and in case they were swept off by large surf.
Other lifeguards were then sent over the hill to do radio relay, while others were sent with tubes, fins and rock rescue equipment in case a water rescue had to be performed.
"It was full tide with worse conditions and waves had been breaking over the fisherman since 11am," the post read.
Due to a delay in the first helicopter after a mechanical breakdown, a backup helicopter arrived at 1:15pm.
The post warns fishermen becoming stranded on rocks is a problem the lifeguards face on "a regular basis".
"Usually, the fishermen have no water experience, poor communication, and no understanding for the danger they are putting themselves in," the post explained.
"The conditions today with large swells makes rescues a big task for lifeguards and emergency services who put their lives at risk to rescue these fishermen."
Both men received minor injuries.
