A Hawke's Bay mother has described the "petrifying" moment her daughter nearly drowned at a local beach.

Spending most of yesterday afternoon at Waimarama Beach with her three children, Anita Gaylard recalls the horrific incident.

Sitting with her youngest child on the beach it was around 3pm when Gaylard felt like something had changed.

Striding out into the breakers she could see her eldest daughter Klaudia Gaylard, 13, yelling to her sister Nastacia Gaylard, 10.

"The sea made a different noise all of a sudden - it sounded quite loud.

"I looked and there was my 13-year-old - she was okay, but I could see her trying to yell to her sister to come back," Gaylard said.

She also began to get her 10-year-old's attention.

"I have a loud whistle I do if the kids have gone out too far, I tried that, yelling and waving but it was at that point I knew she could hear and see me but she couldn't respond."

She began to panic.

Gaylard ran through the water in an effort to make it out to her daughter.

"By this stage I'm in about waist-deep water which is hard to run through so I just started diving through the water.

"I got out further and this wave nearly six foot tall just pulled over top of me, rolled me around in the surf to the point where I took in water," Gaylard said.

As she was toppling over she thought to herself that her "little girl might be gone".

With adrenaline kicking in and a moment between the waves, she leapt out and grabbed her daughter by the wrist.

"A wave hit us and I just held on as tight as I could - she's actually got marks from where I held her so tight," Gaylard told the Herald.

The Gaylard family, from left to right is Tony, Nastacia (10), Klaudia (13), Anita and Danny-Lee (8). (Photo / Supplied)

After the pair made their way back onto shore, lifeguards checked if they were both okay and explained what to do if it should happen again.

It was a great day to go to the beach and there were plenty of families there enjoying the water.

Gaylard said she was surprised there were so few lifeguards given yesterday's great conditions.

The incident occurred only hours before Amy Brown, 35, is thought to have drowned at Haumoana Beach after attempting to save a child - about 30 minutes' drive further along the coast.

Her body was found this morning after she went missing late last night - both the children she was with found their way to shore.

Nastacia Gaylard at a beach education day in November. (Photo / Supplied)

Drowning Prevention Auckland chief executive Davin Bray said the loss of a loved one in an attempted rescue came with a "massive social cost to whanau and community".

From 1980 to 2016, 93 people had died while trying to rescue others — 51 of those at beaches, he said.

In most cases the original victim survived, while the would-be rescuer, often a family member, drowned.

"Most of these people would still be alive if they entered the water with some form of floatation.

"[Lifeguards don't attempt] a rescue without equipment," he added.

Gaylard said everyone was a bit shocked after the family's ordeal and thankful to be alive.

"It's a pretty traumatic thing to happen. As a parent it was absolutely petrifying," she said.