The body recovered from the surf at Mt Maunganui has been identified as belonging to a young Nepalese man.

Police said 22-year-old Pawan Kumar Khadka had been living in Tauranga for about 18 months.

His death has been referred to the Coroner.

It's believed the young man had entered in the water in the early hours of Monday morning and had likely drowned.

His body was found floating in the surf opposite Rabbit Island by a person walking their dog that same morning.

Tauranga police Senior Sergeant Glenn Saunders said inquiries were being made, including speaking to people who knew the man, and making inquiries into possible sightings last night.

"Once we put that all together then we should be in a situation to reconstruct his movements, so we can satisfy ourselves as to what led to him entering the water as he did."

It is one of eight water-related deaths during the holiday period.