A body was recovered from Ocean Beach near Hastings on Sunday morning two days after a swimmer was pulled out to sea as beachgoers tried to rescue him.

The body is yet to be formally identified, but police said in a statement they “believe it may be the body of the man who went missing”.

A large search was launched on Friday afternoon after a man was seen in trouble in the water at Ocean Beach about 3pm and went missing.

The beach has a surf life-saving club, but there were no patrols that day.

Weekday patrols were scheduled to begin on Monday as part of the holiday season, and weekend patrols have been ongoing since late November.

Nearby swimmers tried to rescue him after they realised he was struggling in the choppy conditions, but could not get to him as a rip pulled him away from the shore.

A witness said he appeared to be aged in his late 20s and a woman was also with him at the beach, but was safely on shore when the incident happened.

A sign was up at the entry to the popular beach on Sunday that read “rāhui in place, please respect, no swimming”.

Hawke’s Bay resident Son Keefe is a regular at the beach and was swimming with his son when the incident happened.

“It was a little bit choppy and I wondered why, and as I entered the water I saw there were a lot of holes in the sand, a lot of drop-offs.”

He said he and his son stayed in waist-deep waters because of the conditions.

He said a man and a woman - who did not appear to be locals - were swimming together about a metre away. He said the woman went back on to the shore because of the conditions.

The incident happened at Ocean Beach, south of Hastings. Photo / Connull Lang

Keefe said the man swam close to them for another 10 minutes before venturing out a bit further.

“He went about 10m in front of us, and the waves were a bit bigger out there and harsher.

“I was just enjoying it with my child, and then I looked up and I saw his hands in the air ... I couldn’t see his head, just his hands up out of the water.”

He soon realised something wasn’t right, and another beachgoer swam over after also seeing him in trouble.

Keefe borrowed a boogie board from another swimmer and told her to head back to the beach and call 111.

“I started paddling out to the guy to get to him and got to about 5m from him, and the waves were just crashing on me.”

A sign at the entrance to the beach on Sunday. Photo / Connull Lang

He knew if he went any further, he would likely drown in front of his son.

“I thought, ‘I have to think about my own safety here’, and I had to pull back. It saddens me a little bit, because I know I was that close.”

He said the man was caught in a rip and was pulled further away from shore. Keefe helped direct another beachgoer, who shot out with a longboard to try to rescue the man.

Sadly, they lost sight of him after he drifted about 300m north and about 150m out from shore.

Keefe said two people were helping the woman on shore who had been with the man.

The man went missing from Ocean Beach. Photo / Google Maps

A huge number of participants were involved in the ensuing search, including a plane, helicopter, surf life-saving personnel, police search and rescue squads and the Coastguard.

The extensive search was stood down at nightfall on Saturday, but resumed first thing on Sunday and a body was located.

Formal identification and a post-mortem will be carried out on Monday.

At nearby beach, Waimārama, lifeguards rescued seven people in a single weekend earlier this month.

Gary Hamilton-Irvine is a Hawke’s Bay-based reporter who covers a range of news topics including business, councils, breaking news and cyclone recovery. He formerly worked at News Corp Australia.