Fellow kayakers and surfers managed to pull him to shore, where a Coastguard vessel then took him to Coastguard Hawke's Bay in Napier.
A police spokeswoman said they were alerted to the incident just before 2pm and the Coastguard and rescue helicopter were alerted.
It is believed the man was in his 60s and was in a moderate condition.
He was assessed and treated by St John Ambulance at the scene.
Meanwhile, two teenage swimmers needed rescuing between the flags at Ocean Beach on Saturday afternoon.
"The surf was about a metre-and-a-half but it was quite messy and hard to predict," Ocean Beach Kiwi SLSC director of life guarding Matt Mannington said.
"They put up their hand, did all the right stuff and we sent a swimmer out and an IRB and brought them back to shore. They did the right things - swam between the flags and put their hands up.
"They were okay once we took them back to the beach. One of them was pretty shaken, but the other is okay so we managed to send them off."
Mannington said he believed it had been Ocean Beach Kiwi SLSC's busiest year with what would normally average six rescues already up to 12, and still five days of patrolling left.
"Swim between the flags but if you can't, seek local advice on the conditions and where not to swim. Don't swim outside of your comfort zone," Manninton said.
It was a different story at Westshore Surf Life Saving Club, where up to 180 people enjoyed the sunshine and none needing rescuing.
"Obviously conditions [yesterday] weren't that great because we had a howling northwester and swimming conditions weren't fantastic but it's been pretty hot so we still had quite a good crowd," club director of life guarding Brian Quirk said.
However, in an unusual incident, a woman sitting on the beach was hit by the sail of a windsurfer.
"She was sitting on the beach and the guy was board surfing and he lost his board. He was just trying to get to shore and the sail came down and she got a mild knock on the head," Mr Quirk said.
The beach had gained a few people who had gone to Pandora Pond without realising it was closed and then stopped at Westshore, he said.
Two men got into trouble on a surf ski at Clifton Beach yesterday evening, but were able to get themselves back to shore.
A police spokesperson said police were alerted by a member of the public watching the incident with binoculars at about 5.45pm.
The pair were struggling to get back to shore and Coastguard Hawke's Bay was called but eventually stood down after the matter resolved itself when both men safely got back to shore, she said.
Clifton Motor Camp manager Bob Pollock said he was called by police to see if he could see anything and he rallied a few others to help.
They saw nothing but had a boat on standby in case they needed to go out to help, however, Mr Pollock soon received another call from police to say the people had come ashore.
