Police have released the name of the man who died at Waimarama Beach on Sunday evening.
He was 26-year-old Hemin Vinubhai Limbachiya of Napier.
Emergency services were called to Waimarama Beach at about 7pm on Sunday after a married couple and a male relative got into difficulty in the water north of the Waimarama Surf Life Saving Club.
Read more: Drowned man's last actions at Waimarama were to save his wife
Police offered their sympathies to Mr Limbachiya's family.
The death has been referred to the coroner.