The two people rescued after a car was driven into the water at Pilot Bay yesterday are recovering in Tauranga Hospital.
A hospital spokesman said the pair, an 89-year-old man and an 89-year-old woman, were recovering in a ward and were both in a stable condition.
The pair were from Mount Maunganui.
The crash happened about midday alongside Salisbury Wharf, near the intersection of The Mall and Salisbury Ave.
Firefighters, police and paramedics were called to the scene.
A police officer at the scene said two elderly people were in the car at the time of the crash.
"They've just exited the car park going the wrong direction and into the harbour."
The car was towed from the water soon after it plummeted into the water.
A witnesses who spoke to the Bay of Plenty Times soon after the crash was on the beach when the incident unfolded.
"I just heard the sound of the car hitting the kerb on this side, so I turned to look and the car's just gone straight over and ended up where it is there," the woman said.
"Quite a few guys on the beach just ran down and helped them out. A crowd formed pretty quickly but I think everyone was just really concerned for the people in the car."
She said helpers got the people out of the car pretty quickly.
One of those helping hands was Russell Christian from the Mount, who said he was fishing on the wharf with his son when they heard a bang and turned around to see a car in the water.
Another witness, who was sitting in a vehicle nearby, said the car "was quite fast going over".
"It was horrible because it went in and we couldn't believe our eyes. Poor old things."
The woman said everyone who helped was wonderful.
"Thank God there were no kids in the water. So lucky there was just no one walking through at the time."