Covid 19 coronavirus: 'Mass of surfers' converge on Lyall Bay, Wellington during level 3

A "mass of surfers" have converged on one of Wellington's most popular surf beaches.

A Wellington local, who wanted to be known only as Brendan, said he was in the area for work when he decided to stop and see what was happening at Lyall Bay.

There were reportedly at least 150 surfers in the water. Photo / Supplied

"It was like a seal colony of 150 plus surfers stretching across the whole bay," he told the Herald.

"Just a mass of surfers out there, and people on the beach."

He had never seen so many surfers there at once. He estimated on a regular weekend there might be up to 40 people hitting the waves, but in his 28 years in Wellington he had never seen 150.

Lyall Bay is one of Wellington's most popular surf beaches. Photo / Supplied

Surfing and other water sports such as swimming and kayaking are permitted under level 3 of the lockdown. Boating and jet skis remain banned.

Congregating in groups is still not permitted, but Brendan said everybody appeared to be behaving "sensibly" on the beach.

"From what I could see people were definitely keeping their distance from each other.

"I was there for about 10 minutes, everybody I saw was being sensible."

Surfing was previously banned under level 4, as were any activities that could lead to the participant requiring medical treatment or search and rescue efforts.

One man suffered severe spinal injuries while surfing just hours before the lockdown began in March.

Police began using surf cameras to check for Covid-19 lockdown rule breakers following the dramatic injury.

Officers also handed out tickets to surfers flouting the rules.

• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website