NZ tourist missing off Gold Coast

Hopes are fading that a 19-year-old New Zealand man missing off a Gold Coast beach will be found alive as emergency services and lifeguards mount a second search effort today.

The search for Richard Doyle resumed at first light today, more than 24 hours after he failed to return from an early morning swim.

The teenager, who is on holiday with his family, told his parents he was going for a "quick swim" about 7am before walking to Northcliffe Beach. It is understood he entered the water before the regular beach patrol started at 7.30am.

His parents began searching the beach, near Surfers Paradise, when he had not returned three hours later and raised the alarm after they found his clothes, towel and wallet abandoned on the sand.

Gold Coast water police Senior Constable Bruce Kolkka said clouded skies and murky water hampered the search effort for the teenager, who suffers epilepsy, yesterday.

An air and sea search, involving lifeguards, the Westpac Rescue Helicopter, a Seabird plane and water police, resumed at first light this morning.

"From that we've had jet-boats, lifeguards, lifesavers and the chopper searching the area from Northcliffe and further north with the sweep," Constable Kolkka told The Gold Coast Bulletin yesterday.

"It is a real fear, but the parents are remaining hopeful that he met someone he knew and went off with them.

"He's said to be a strong swimmer. We're aware he has a pre-existing medical condition, epilepsy, but his parents said he was taking medication for it and he had his pill before he left."

Mr Doyle disappeared just three days after a 17-year-old Brisbane teenager, who also suffered epilepsy, drowned on the Gold Coast on New Year's Day.

Heath Whalan was swimming with his mother in Tallebudgera Creek when he disappeared below the surface.

His body was recovered from a five-metre ditch between two sand banks in the creek on Saturday morning.

The youth's death preceded a horror weekend on Gold Coast beaches, as king tides lashed the shoreline, with 60 people rescued from the treacherous currents.

Gold Coast chief lifeguard Warren Young told The Gold Coast Bulletin conditions had eased since the weekend but murky water would continue to hamper the search effort.

- BrisbaneTimes.com.au