News a man drowned while trying to save a child has sparked an outpouring of tributes for the Tauranga man.

Angelo Tuyay drowned at Hot Water Beach, in the Coromandel, on Sunday.

In a post on Facebook, Couples for Christ New Zealand says 'it is with sadness to inform you that Bro Angelo Tuyay passed away”.

'Let us all say our prayers for Bro Angelo who died while saving a child drowning in Coromandel area. Let us also pray for his family at this difficult moment.”

A police spokesperson says Angelo was pulled from the water and given CPR before the Auckland Rescue Helicopter arrived.

'However, rescuers were unable to revive him and he died at the scene.”

Since the Couples of Christ New Zealand posted on Facebook, more than 60 comments have been made from people passing on their condolences and describing Angelo as a 'saint and hero”.

It was low tide when the incident happened, so there were only a few people at the beach, Auckland Rescue Helicopter pilot James Tayler said on Sunday.

Three or four doctors had been holidaying on the beach and tried to revive him, but he died at the scene.

Hot Water Beach lifeguard service chairman Gary Hinds understood that more than one of the victim's young children had been swimming near a rip when they got into trouble.

"They yelled out for help," says Gary. "[Tuyay] and a few others had gone in to pull them out.

"From what I understand, he pushed his kids back towards shore and other people grabbed them. When they turned around after getting the kids back to shore, he was underwater."

It's usually the rescuers - not those initially struggling - who end up drowning, says Gary.

Lifeguards were notified eight minutes after emergency services were called, despite being at their base 400 metres awa.

"The network or communications system doesn't seem to have us tied in high enough."

Gary's not sure whether it would have made a difference, but worries it could have.

Doctors were already performing CPR when lifeguards arrived with first aid. It continued for 50 minutes while Tuyay's family were comforted by lifeguards and onlookers.

The family had been "as well as could be expected," Hinds said. "It's a traumatic time for anybody."

The Government and Thames-Coromandel District Council need to step up and fund lifeguards fulltime, he said.

"It scares me that we have to wait until somebody drowns.

"The Government are very proud that they're putting money into toilets and carparks. But they don't save lives.

"We could use quarter of one of [the politicians] wages and it would nearly cover the beach for the rest of the year.

"[Hotwater Beach's volunteer patrol service] are the longest running volunteer service in New Zealand. We start this weekend, we're there for 230 days. That's probably nearly triple any other beach in New Zealand."

The Government has said it will be in a position to provide more funding in two or three years, Hinds said.

But it's too far away, he said.

"With a lot of the young [lifeguards], this is not their first drowning and it probably won't be their last."

Pauline Walynetz, who owns Hotties Beachfront Eatery on the Hot Water Beach beachfront, agreed.

"You need a lifeguard here all year, even if it was just for four hours during low tide during winter - that's when it's the worst."

-Additional reporting from Stuff.co.nz