The navy was called in on Friday to help search for a man missing off a Whangarei beach.
Alexy Ivanov, 34, was last seen heading into the water at Uretiti Beach at 5pm on Thursday.
Staff at a Department of Conservation campground called police when they saw his clothing and car were still at the beach an hour later.
The navy is using sonar equipment to get underwater images of the seabed 1 kilometre either side of where Mr Ivanov went missing.