Nigel Cattell, a resident of Tairua, said he saw two people in the rented double kayak heading towards Tairua’s bar.

He feared the worst when he saw them being sucked in by the ebbing tide.

“I thought these kayakers were going to be in trouble – they might tip over and they would need to be rescued, but I had no idea when I sent this boat that they were going to be the victims,” Cattell told Newshub.

Stuck on the ground, he had asked a jet skier and the family of five – who had just returned after a day on the water – to watch the kayakers.

“They said ‘yes give us a sign’ so when I saw the kayak tip over they ran away.”

A full-scale rescue ensued when the family’s boat was hit by a wave.

Hamilton’s wife Andrea Hall was visiting Pauanui the day she saw the incident unfold.

“You think, ‘they’re fine, they’re going to be okay,’ then just that awful feeling of realizing what’s going on in front of you,” she said.

She spent 18 minutes on the phone with emergency services who called three rescue helicopters to the scene.

Cattell says the grandfather and his family were selfless in going to help the stricken kayakers.

“They went over there to do their best to save these kayakers who we now know survived. These canoeists, I have no idea who they were, but they were the heroes and did their part. “said Cattell.

More than 20 surf lifeguards took action to save the family of five.