Swimmers making the most of the long hot conditions this summer are being urged to be aware of their surroundings

It comes after a string of water incidents in the past 48 hours which has left four people dead and another missing.

A child was swept from a Napier beach, a mother drowned trying to save her child from a Northland beach and the search for a person missing off Waihi Beach on the Coromandel will resume today.

Water Safety chief executive Jonty Mills says the incidents we've seen over the last couple of days reflect the complex nature of drownings in our country.

He says they've represented a broad range of ages, activities and different environments that people have been recreating in.

Mills says people need to be aware of their own limits and have local knowledge and awareness of conditions.