A spectacular sandcastle is sparking high praise from beachgoers at Mount Maunganui.

Built on Boxing Day by brothers Jared and Paul Brandon with help from father Alistair Brandon who lugged hundreds of litres of water, the sandcastle took 10 hours to build.

Towering to two metres high, the castle, located on the beach at Shark Alley next to Moturiki was still standing tall the following morning, much to the delight of the duo as well as passersby.

The brothers, both videographers with an interest in design and architecture, put a lot of planning and preparation into their creation.

'We started at 10am and finished at 8pm,” says Jared. 'My brother was taught how to make them in America about eight years ago. He then taught me and we've build a couple of them since.”

They built a smaller sandcastle on Boxing Day in 2021, returning to Mount Maunganui this year to try something far grander.

'It's two metres high and twice as tall as our previous attempt, by far the biggest we've ever attempted.”

Usually the pair would be spending Christmas on their parent's Te Kuiti farm.

'Our parents sold their property in Te Kuiti and they're still having a house being built in Cambridge, so it means we didn't have anywhere to stay last year for Christmas and again this year.

'Our two sisters live at the Mount so we have spent Christmas last year and this year with them.”

Both from Auckland, Jared is a wedding videographer and Paul is an architectural videographer. Clearly the design, planning, problem solving, 3-D, technical and artistic skills abound with both.

'We thought we could do better this year than last year, and did a bit of research. Got inspired,” says Jared.

Arriving at Mount Maunganui on December 23, they set off to Bunnings and bought the biggest buckets they could find.

'About $180 worth of equipment – spades, buckets, chisels - tools you would use to plaster someone's home,' says Jared. 'We also had to buy a little stool from Bunnings to carve the top of the sandcastle out.”

They recommend picking up sandcastle building tips off YouTube.

'We drew up a bit of a plan the day before as to how we wanted to do it. We checked out the tides and made sure we built it above high tide so it would last more than 12 hours.”

They key ingredient - hard sand - is very important, says Jared, otherwise the structure falls over. Above the high tide mark, the sand is softer, dry and loose.

'My brother and I have done it before but this time commandeered our dad to be the water boy. So he went backwards and forwards to the ocean to get buckets of water, to make very hard sand.”

He estimates Alistair would have lugged about 30 – 40 buckets of water up the beach to the sandcastle, quite a distance at low tide.

'My dad was the brawn behind it all. He loved it and was proud to be a part of it. It was a family affair.”

He's quick to point out that this is 'just a hobby for us that we do on the odd occasion” but then is again quickly caught up in outlining the key aspects of perfecting an epic castle made of sand.

'The secret to a good sandcastle is to fill buckets with lots and lots of water mixed with the sand. Then good tools to carve and shape the towers and stairs.”

Working under a gazebo the two brothers were able to stay mostly in the shade all day while their father toiled happily and rather faithfully under the hot sun back and forth to the ocean to collect the water. Their mother Carolyn Brandon brought down icecreams to keep them going, one sister came to have a look, and their niece started building her own sandcastle nearby.

They were all very excited to finally finish it about 8pm on Boxing Day, with the spectacular castle drawing a crowd all day and people taking photos.

The next day, at sunrise, the castle stood tall against the dawn horizon.

'Paul went down this morning at sunrise to see if it was still standing,” says Jared. 'There's no degradation overnight, it's a pretty solid structure.”

They haven't decided whether they'll be back for Brandon Sandcastle 3.0 on Boxing Day 2023.

'Next year Mum and dad will have finished building their house in Cambridge so we will have Christmas there. But we'll see about coming back,” says Jared.

'We're already brainstorming bigger and better ideas.”