A New Zealand woman holidaying in the Cook Islands has described harrowing scenes as hotel guests and staff desperately tried to save a Kiwi tourist who was later pronounced dead at the beach.

The woman who asked not to be named said she and her husband and family had been enjoying drinks at the Edgewater Resort & Spa, in Rarotonga, on Sunday (Monday NZT) evening when things took a sudden turn.

 “We were just outside having sundowners at the restaurant when we noticed some people reacting - people started standing up.

“I went down to the edge of the restaurant at the beach and I saw a man pulling a woman out of the water.

“There were already a couple of people there...and I ran back and said: ‘Are there nurses or doctors’?”

A man called back that his wife - a paramedic - had just run down to the scene to help.

“They tried to resuscitate her probably for a good couple of hours. The ambulance...came, but it was too late. It was pretty traumatic.”

Cook Islands Police Service confirmed the incident happened at the Edgewater Resort in the Arorangi District on the island of Rarotonga.

In a statement released online, local authorities said: “The weekend closed with another tragic incident when a drowning at Edgewater Resort was reported to Police.

“The victim was a 49-year-old female from New Zealand.”

The circumstances of the incident are not yet known.

The witness told the Herald the victim had been travelling with another woman.

The Edgewater Resort in Rarotonga is hugely popular with international tourists. Photo / NZME

Before the witness and her family caught a flight back home to New Zealand yesterday, they saw the second woman speaking to authorities at the resort.

“We didn’t want to approach her because we were pretty emotional and we didn’t want to get her going - she looked as though she had sort of composed herself.

‘I couldn’t stop crying...all I see is her’

“But she was just wandering around aimlessly at the resort, sitting in different spots and staring out at the sea. I think she was totally shell-shocked.”

The witness acknowledged that the incident had affected her and her family as a result too.

“We’re okay. I was pretty traumatic that night - I couldn’t stop crying,” she said, becoming emotional.

“My husband said I shouldn’t have gone and seen because all I see is her. It’s obviously affected me more than I thought.”

The witness wanted to share a message of comfort and love to the victim’s family.

“So terribly sorry for their loss. They sent her away on holiday and they didn’t expect anything like this to happen to her.

“[After the incident], when we saw people come back and shake their heads, I just said a prayer for her.”

The Edgewater Resort & Spa is one of the Cook Islands’ most well-known and popular resorts with tourists around the world.

Its lush surroundings and prime location near the beach have made it a firm favourite with travellers and it regularly features in top-rated lists on hotel booking and travel websites.