A pair of divers are lucky to be alive after drifting off-shore near Gisborne yesterday

The father and son were in a party of three who were diving north of Tatapouri at around nine-am.

They'd left their kayaks tied together and anchored - but windy weather dragged the anchor out to sea.

One of the divers was able to get back to shore and raise the alarm but large swells made the search difficult.

Search and rescue teams found one of the divers five-hundred metres off-shore and another nearly 15-kilometres out to sea.

While neither of them required medical attention, police say it's a good reminder not to go diving in bad conditions.