It is believed the water was calm and the small runabout simply capsized as the passengers disembarked, the Newcastle Herald reported on Monday.

Four of the people were helped from the water, but the man did not resurface.

Several men dived under the water to help the man but they could not find him.

Police divers found his body near the jetty at 4.20pm in what water police described as “black water”.

Water police and the Westpac Rescue Helicopter had joined the search earlier in the day and a helicopter crew member even entered the water to search for the man’s body before police divers arrived.

The four survivors were flown to John Hunter Hospital where they were treated for exposure and hypothermia.

The man’s name was not made public and a report will be prepared for the coroner. It is not known if the family was holidaying at the nearby Myall Shores Resort.

The incident is the most recent in a number of drowning deaths to plague the region over the last 12 months. In a nearby spot of the Myall Lakes a 75-year-old man drowned during a canoeing trip with three friends on December 29 last year. On that occasion, the normally tranquil waters of the Myall Lakes were hit by a storm that whipped up a 1.5 metre swell.

The man was tossed from his two-man canoe near Mungo Brush and his body was found near the Bombah Point ferry wharf.