HONOLULU -- A fishing outing in Kahala left a man in critical condition on Saturday.

It happened just after 11 a.m. off Hunakai Beach.

Two men in their early 20s were fishing when one of the men stumbled on the reef and fell into the water, witnesses said.

"I guess they were just walking on the reef to go fishing and they got stuck in the current, they dropped down. I don't know if he slipped or what. They said he went down for 3 to 4 minutes," witness Kika Bombeke said.

Lifeguards brought the man to shore, where paramedics treated the 21-year-old man and took him to Straub Hospital and Clinic.

Police and bystanders consoled the friend.

Bystanders said the two men were University of Hawaii students.