A car was totaled and police said two Massachusetts college students could face charges after they were allegedly doing donuts on the beach got stuck in the rising tide.

It happened Wednesday around 4 a.m. at Singing Beach in Manchester-by-the-Sea.

Manchester-by-the-Sea Police Lt. Mark McCoy said two Gordon College students were in a sedan doing donuts in the middle of the beach, and then got too close to the water and got stuck.

Fire Chief Jake McNeilly said the students were stuck in the water about 50 feet from shore as the tide was starting to come in. The students were able to get out of the car themselves into the waist-deep water. When firefighters arrived, the 19-year-olds were trying to push the car back onto the beach, but were unsuccessful. 

McCoy said it was not easy to remove the stuck car from the water and sand, and heavy equipment was needed. He said he would anticipate either insurance or the owner would be responsible for the cost of the tow.

"We don't know what they were thinking. Obviously they weren't thinking. It happens quite a bit. Not to that extent making it down there," McCoy said.

One of the students, who asked only to be identified as Sam, said he and his friend were up early for a drive on the beach following this week's nor'easter.

"Not as expected obviously. We found ourselves stranded on the beach with our tires stuck. The wheels weren't moving. We got out, tried to push it, got waist-deep in water, and we were really scared so we called 911," Sam said. "We were going for a ride, listening to some music, listening to the waves, watching the sea."

A Manchester-by-the-Sea resident named Kim said that cars often get stuck on the beach.

"They were driving down to along the water line. I was going to tell them that most everybody has to get towed off the beach, it's not a good place to try and drive. Some guy [recently] came down in his brand new Corvette, got stuck about 15 feet in just a big pile of sand. It's a good way to lose a car," she said.