UPDATED 9.11pm A male swimmer is missing and a second person is receiving medical treatment following an incident at Piha surf beach in West Auckland early this evening.

A police spokesman confirmed an adult male was missing, prompting a large response from emergency services.

The POlice Eagle helicopter is now looking for the man but rescue boats have been stood down due to rough conditions.

The second swimmer had been "located" and was being treated by surf lifesavers at the scene, the spokesman said.

A St John Ambulance spokeswoman said this evening the person was assessed as having minor injuries and did not need to be taken to hospital.​

As well as surf lifesavers, the Westpac Rescue Helicopter and Northern Coastguard were involved in the search.

Northern Coastguard tweeted that Auckland Air Patrol were searching for a missing swimmer west of Lion Rock.

The alarm was raised at 6.13pm, the police spokesman said.

There was a light southerly breeze and good visibility at the beach, but waves were 2.5 to 3 metres and the tide was going out.

Auckland Air Patrol currently engaged in search for missing swimmer west of Lion Rock, Piha alongside Surf Life Saving & Westpac Rescue Heli

— Coastguard (@CoastguardNorth) December 17, 2016

Earlier today a man came close to drowning at Whangamata before being rescued by members of the public.

That incident occurred when a man in his 20s got into trouble in the water about 2.15pm.

A St John Ambulance spokeswoman said he was rescued by members of the public.

He was initially deemed to be in a critical condition but he stabilised after being pulled to shore.

He was flown to Tauranga hospital in a moderate condition.

A toddler was also fortunate to be rescued after being "submerged for quite some time" at Long Bay, north of Auckland, this morning, said Surf Life Saving Northern Region spokesman Chase Cahalane.

The incident occurred a couple of hundreds of metres from the flagged area about 11.25am.

"It was actually the first day lifeguards were patrolling that beach," Cahalane said.

The child was rescued by members of the public and then attended to by lifeguards on shore. They were not seriously injured but were transported to hospital for observation.

Another incident occurred at the beach at Pukehina, when a 14-year-old girl was rescued from the water. She was not seriously hurt.

Meanwhile, a rescue helicopter was dispatched to Pakiri Beach north of Auckland late Saturday afternoon where a man in his 30s suffered possible spinal injuries after falling off a horse.

The man has been treated by surf lifeguards.