A funeral will be held today for a diver who died after getting into trouble in rough water on Friday.

Carl Ranapia Babbington, 46, from Kawerau, was recovered at about 9am from the Whakatāne River on Saturday after disappearing while diving on Friday afternoon.

Ranapia Babbington was described as a loving father, brother, uncle, grand uncle cousin and friend to many in a funeral notice.

“A puku mahi who loved the sea and land collecting kai moana; he will be dearly loved and missed by us all,” it said.

Police thanked Coastguard Whakatāne volunteers, Whakatāne Surf Lifesaving and the Police National Dive Squad for their involvement in the recovery operation following the disappearance of the diver on Friday.

A fellow diver at the scene on Friday told the Beacon that he, Ranapia Babbington and a third diver had entered the water at about 11am on Friday to dive for mussels.

“Because we were in the water at 11, so I’d say about lunchtime, we just lost track of him,” the man said.

“We were waiting up on the [shore] for him for a while and then came back here; we thought he might have been back here and ran back around to go and have a look for him, because he wasn’t here.

“We just ended up having to ring the police. We regularly dive out here.”

The man said the sea was rough at the time, and they believed Ranapia Babbington was hit by waves against the rocks.

Wayne Savage, who had known Ranapia Babbington since primary school, described him as “a really, really good person”, in a Stuff report.