Friends devastated by McLaren Falls drowning

131214aw20bop 24 year old Muhammad Jawad a Pakastani native living in Auckland drowns at McLaren Falls. Police interview Muhammad's friends Hassen Naqui 29 (left) and Faizan Mir 29. 13 December 2014

An Auckland man who drowned while having a swim yesterday was remembered as being a "very happy and jolly guy" by his heartbroken friend last night.

Muhammad Jawad, 24, died after stopping at the popular McLaren Falls, near Tauranga, for a quick swim with two friends.

Jawad had stopped at the swimming spot with friends Faizan Mir and Hassan Naqu shortly before 3pm. He began to struggle in deeper water and disappeared.

"He jumped in and was swimming for a while and we realised he was panicking a little," Mir said. "Some other people jumped in to help and my friend [Hassan] jumped in to help but they couldn't ... he just went under the surface."

The men yelled to bystanders to call 111 but by the time ambulances and police arrived, their friend had disappeared.

"I'm gutted, it's tragic," Mir said.

The trio were visiting for the weekend and were looking for a good camping spot, Mir said.

The police dive squad was called to the falls last night to find Jawad's body.

Jawad and Mir had been friends for two months after meeting through Jawad's older brother in Auckland.

Mir understood Jawad had recently got engaged to a woman who was studying in Germany.

He had moved to New Zealand this year and the friends were visiting Tauranga for the first time. "He was a swimmer. He went to the pool to swim quite often. He was an athlete, played lots of sports," Mir said.

"He was very happy and jolly. A really nice guy."

Mir's brother in Auckland was last night heading to Tauranga. Next of kin living in Pakistan were being advised overnight.