Christian surfers saved a mother and her two teenage sons from drowning off a beach in Auckland, New Zealand.

According to the New Zealand Herald, the five members of the North Shore Christian Surfers Group – Darren Celliers, 20, Caleb Lemkus, 21, Olly Mason, 23, Lewis Mennie, 16, and Troy Duckworth – pulled the family on to their boards about 30 metres from the shore at Bethells Beach.

Celliers said: "The younger brother was just freaking out. He was scared and in shock.

"We spent the first few minutes trying to calm him down and explain that he was going to be all right."

He told his rescuers, "If you guys hadn't come, I would have died out there," Celliers said.

He added that they were only minutes away from drowning. "They were pretty exhausted and pretty far out, and weren't making any progress towards land. It was pretty freaky."

The surfers were alerted to the emergency as they walked along the beach and paddled out to the family, who had been caught in a rip tide and were afraid that they would drown. They hoisted the mother and two boys, aged about 18 and 13, on to their boards and succeeded in getting them back to the shore.

Celliers warned against swimmers venturing into the waves once the lifeguards have gone off duty.

"Even being an experienced surfer, I wouldn't just go swimming out on the west coast without flotation. It's freaking dangerous."