Two of the rescued cousins are carried up the beach. Photo / Supplied
One of the people involved in the rescue drama off Hot Water Beach this week has told how he and his cousins fought desperately to get to shore - and says they would have died had they been in the water "a minute longer".
The man and his three cousins
were at the Coromandel Peninsula beach with their families on Monday.
One of the men, who asked not to be named, said all four knew how to swim but got "carried away and started going further".
"Once the water level reached above our necks, we thought, 'That is enough', and we could go back. But we couldn't."
They were caught in a rip, which dragged them out to sea.
