Herekino Harbour is located on an isolated stretch of Northland coast, south of Ahipara.
Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf

A search is continuing today in the Far North for a swimmer missing since Monday morning on an isolated stretch of the west coast.

The alarm was raised about 10.30am when the 18-year-old man was swept out to sea as he was attempting to swim across Herekino Harbour, south of Ahipara.

Northland police senior sergeant Brian Swann said the man was swept away near the harbour entrance on an outgoing tide.

Police, the Northland Rescue Helicopter, two Far North Surf Rescue inflatable boats and a Coastguard plane searched the area on Monday without finding him.

Swann said the searchers had been joined today by members of the Police Dive Squad.

The search was hampered by low cloud, which had forced the Coastguard plane to stop flying, and the area’s poor communications.