Wild conditions seen from the bridge of Lady Elizabeth IV on its way back from rescuing a kayaker off the Wairarapa coast.

A woman who paddled out to check a crayfish pot in an inflatable kayak had to be rescued out at sea in wild conditions off the Wairarapa coast.

The 25-year-old Masterton woman was staying with her family, including her 4-year-old daughter, at the camp ground at Ocean Beach in South Wairarapa over Easter.

She went out on her mother-in-law's kayak to check on a cray pot 500m off the coast on Saturday morning, but

Maarten Holl Police unload the rescued inflatable kayak from the police launch.

powerful northwest winds dragged her 2.5km out to sea. Large waves almost tipped her out twice and the kayak began filling with water.

"I kept the boat going forward, kept going and made sure I didn't fall out," the woman, who did not want to be named, said.

She hoped, but was not certain, family members on the beach knew of her predicament and would raise the alarm.

Asked if she was an experienced kayaker, she replied, "not at all".

Shortly after 11.30am, she spotted the Westpac rescue helicopter coming to her rescue followed closely by police launch Lady Elizabeth IV, which was battling gusts of up to 128kmh.

"I just tried to paddle up to them, and they just pulled me up and in," she said.

As she and her rescued kayak were being brought back to shore by the Lady Elizabeth IV about 2pm on Saturday she had still not spoken to her family, but understood they had been told of her rescue.

Emergency services were called out after the woman was spotted "in distress" about 2.5km off Ocean Beach.

She had a life jacket on but was struggling against the wind, police said.

Senior Constable Craig Pickering of the Wellington Maritime Unit said the police launch and the Westpac rescue helicopter raced to the scene, arriving at about the same time.

She had done a good job of staying in position when she got in trouble, facing into the winds which were gusting to 128kmh until she was found, Pickering said.

"She didn't give up. She just paddled constantly. It made it far easier for us to do the rescue."

But it was still a tough job to rescue the woman in the powerful winds, he said.

She was brought back to Wellington "safe and well" by the police launch, which battled "bloody awful" winds.

Rescue helicopter crewman Logan Taylor said the helicopter would have winched down a paramedic if the woman was in the water. However, when they arrived she was still in the kayak and the police launch was almost at the scene so it stayed on standby nearby.

It did though have to battle "severe turbulence", he said.

The helicopter was called away from the Omaka Classic Fighters Airshow in Marlborough to get to the rescue.

Maurice Tipoki, from Lake Ferry Holiday Park, said there was a "very strong" northwest wind blowing at Ocean Beach today and it could easily push a kayaker far out to sea.

The northwest wind channelled down the Wairarapa valleys to the coast, he said.

"At Ocean Beach, the northwester is pretty vicious."