{"id":229644,"date":"2026-01-12T10:40:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T10:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/229644\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T10:40:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T10:40:08","slug":"poripori-water-hole-tragedy-is-second-death-at-site-in-as-many-summers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/229644\/","title":{"rendered":"Poripori water hole tragedy is second death at site in as many summers"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Saturday, police and other emergency services were called to a location off Poripori Rd about 2.55pm, after a person was pulled from the water.<\/p>\n

Police said CPR was given but the person died at the scene. Police have referred the death to the coroner.<\/p>\n

Local Democracy Reporting understands the person was a male.<\/p>\n

A witness, who spoke on the condition they were not named, said they were planning to take their three young daughters for a swim at the Poripori water hole, but when they arrived in the carpark, they saw an ambulance had just arrived.<\/p>\n

The rest of the emergency services followed, and the swimmers were evacuated from the water hole.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody was quiet.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just this common sadness because everybody knew what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Known as the Poripori water hole or swimming hole, the area has a series of natural pools surrounded by bush, and is a well-known spot to cool off in hot weather.<\/p>\n

Western Bay of Plenty District Council reserves and facilities manager Peter Watson said the council was not involved in the emergency response as that was not its role.<\/p>\n

Asked whether safety changes may be needed after two deaths in Poripori over two summers, he said the council would be guided by any recommendations from the coroner.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny natural water body, whether it be a river, stream, the ocean or a lake, presents hazards and risks to anyone entering the water.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are several signs in the area warning of drowning risks due to water flows increasing from releases of the Lake McLaren dam upstream.<\/p>\n

A Contact Energy spokesperson said there was no release from the dam on Saturday, only on Sunday as scheduled.<\/p>\n

\" One of the water safety signs around the Poripori swimming hole. Photo \/ Western Bay of Plenty Council<\/p>\n

Water Safety New Zealand chief executive Glen Scanlon said rivers remained one of New Zealand\u2019s deadliest environments for drowning. <\/p>\n

\u201cPoripori, like so many calm and beautiful swimming holes in New Zealand\u2019s rivers, poses risks of submerged rocks, a fast-flowing current, and hazards from slipping and falling.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn a warm sunny day, a river swimming hole looks like a great place for a swim. Swimming in rivers is fun, but it can always be dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scanlon said that in almost every incident, drowning in New Zealand can be prevented.<\/p>\n

This could not be prevented by signage alone.<\/p>\n

River swimming advice from Water Safety NZ<\/p>\n

Swimming in a river is not like swimming in a pool or in the sea. <\/p>\n

River water is much colder than water in a pool or the sea You do not float as well in river water as you do in seawater If you are in a river current and try to put your feet down, your foot could become trapped under rocks If you are in a river current, you can become trapped against obstacles and strainers or be swept into rapids, waterfalls or weirs If you are in a river current, you will use a lot of energy to keep yourself afloat as you look to get out of the river at the first safe exit point.<\/p>\n

New Zealand\u2019s water safety code focuses on the critical decisions people need to make to stay safe \u2013 watersafetynz.org\/staying-safe\/water-safety-code<\/a><\/p>\n

Ayla Yeoman<\/a> is a journalist based in Tauranga. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in Communications and Politics & International Relations from the University of Auckland, and has been a journalist since 2022.<\/p>\n

\u2013 LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Saturday, police and other emergency services were called to a location off Poripori Rd about 2.55pm, after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":229645,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[806,1975,634,42,22528,78,185,5829,43,72944,8466,1857,14166,40,38,41,39,12628,376],"class_list":["post-229644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-as","tag-at","tag-death","tag-headlines","tag-hole","tag-in","tag-is","tag-many","tag-news","tag-poripori","tag-second","tag-site","tag-summers","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-tragedy","tag-water"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229644"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229644\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/229645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}