The man believed to be of Asian descent and aged between 40 and his early 60s, was wearing blue jeans and a bicycle tyre inner tube used as a belt.
Police said he had a bald or possibly shaven head, was of medium build and had no facial hair.
He was wearing a dark polo shirt with thin, light-coloured horizontal stripes and a pair of blue and green swimming goggles.
He was not wearing shoes and had no obvious marks, scars or tattoos.
“Work is ongoing to determine the circumstances of the man’s death, but our first priority is to identify the man,” police said.
Anyone who recognises the description or has information that could help was asked to call the 105 non-emergency line, quoting file number 261101/7893.
A Hato Hone St John spokesperson said it responded to the incident with one ambulance, a rapid response vehicle and an operations manager.
The man’s death comes just three days after another man was found dead at Big Manly Beach on Auckland’s Whangaparāoa Peninsula.
Police were called to the beach about 12.50pm on Thursday after a member of the public discovered the man’s body.
The circumstances surrounding that death are still being investigated.
This year is tipped to be one of the worst for water-related deaths, with 71 people drowning since the beginning of 2026.
That was significantly higher than the average across the last decade and the same time in 2025 (52 deaths recorded in the year-to-date).