Mount beachgoers are being warned to steer clear of a growing rip near the Sunbrae Grove beach access after five people were pulled out of the spot in two near-drowning incidents on Tuesday.

On Tuesday afternoon surfer and Mount Maunganui College teacher aide Glenn Osborne was walking with his wife along the beach, when she decided to have a swim, a safe 20m away from a rip about 5.30pm. Within minutes Glenn found himself diving into the rip, racing to save three people who were being swept away. 'I've been around the ocean all my life and this has shocked me,” says Glenn. 'I noticed two children going into the water... In a few seconds, I saw they were being pulled out in the rip. They'd gone from just below their knees to being in trouble.

'They lost their footing within 30 seconds of entering the water.”

Glenn says the children started yelling to their mother. 'She rushed into the water in a panic after them. She got to the young girl, about eight years old, and grabbed her. I grabbed the boy who was about the same age. By that stage they'd swallowed a lot of water. There was no footing and they were about a minute from drowning.” At this point the children were screaming uncontrollably.

'I told them to kick, but we kept being dragged out. So I took the kids and steered them towards the side of the rip. This man on the bar came in up to his chest but he had firm footing; we went sideways and got to him.

'I was up to my chin on tippy toes and he was able to take them off my hands.

The kids began screaming for mum. 'She was being dragged out by the rip so I swam quite a way to get her and had to fight to keep her safe as well.”

By then the mother was 30m-40m offshore and struggling. Glenn made it back to the beach with the mother. 'The realisation that she wasn't able to save her children or herself was hard to deal with... She was being taken very quickly. With only another two minutes they would've drowned. And the mum wouldn't have been able to save herself.”

Severe and strong

Glenn says the rip has been there for years but he's seen it grow 10-fold in the last three months.

'It's about 15-20m wide. Just severe. I've never felt such a strong rip; it's so deep as it's out from a stormwater pipe so there's a big hole there.”

Surf Lifesaving NZ eastern region manager Chaz Gibbons-Campbell says two rescues were carried out near the Sunbrae Grove beach access within an hour of each other Tuesday evening.

'It was nearly all over rover,” says Chaz. 'Another person rescued two elderly people in the same spot, about 4.30pm.”

Chaz says these reports follow others received last weekend where more bystanders carried out rescues off Waiariki St on Sunday when lifeguard patrols had left for Omanu.

Large holes and troughs

'The coastline from Mount Maunganui all the way down to Papamoa east is littered with large holes and troughs which feed into very strong rip currents, even though the surf is only 0.5m-1m – these currents are extremely strong.”

There are no lifeguards on patrol on weekdays; only 11am-4pm weekends. 'We're very concerned for people's safety as the hot weather is encouraging people to the beach after-school and work – we need to get the message out there that the coastline is very dangerous and people need to be extra careful.”

Chaz says the Sunbrae Grove rip is getting stronger, and he's placed a ‘Danger Rips! No Swimming' sign there. 'The rip at the stormwater pipe is about 20m-30m wide, and really deep. The two kids and mum that Glenn rescued nearly died.”

Glenn agrees. 'We would've had three fatalities if I hadn't of gone for a walk with my wife. Or if I had hesitated.”