After two fatalities in the holiday period Maritime NZ has reminded boaties in the Bay to take care on the water.
The reported fatalities included a 68-year-old male who drowned on Boxing Day while kayaking around Donut Island, off the Whangamata Coast.
Today, after the official holiday period ended, police divers were searching for a 48-year-old man who went missing from a boat yesterday in Lake Rotoiti.
Read more: Lake Rotoiti boatie taken by a 'horrible accident' says his brother
The second fatality happened in Northland, after a 75-year-old woman drowned on January 2 after falling off a boat.
Maritime NZ's education and communications manager Pania Shingleton urged boaties to make safety a priority and just remember the safety basics.
Read more: Bay's drowning deaths spark safety warnings
The Nobody's Faster Than Disaster campaign asked boaties to wear a lifejacket, take two waterproof ways to call for help, check the marine weather forecast, avoid alcohol and be a responsible skipper.
"We'd like to see more people wearing lifejackets at all times. Research shows that people who wear them are more likely to survive if something goes wrong," Ms Shingleton said.
She said it was very difficult to put a lifejacket on if you ended up in the water.
Research commissioned by MNZ last year showed 85 per cent of those who own or use recreational boats said they carry enough lifejackets for all those on board.
Only 63 per cent of boaties said they wore a lifejacket at all times on the water.