Jake Barrett was 19 when he went missing. He is a male of medium build, blonde hair and tanned complexion. Jake was last seen snorkelling at Middle Beach on Lord Howe Island NSW on 2 December 2015. While he was snorkelling, his friends lost sight of him. A fin, believed to be Jake’s, was located 80 meters from where he was last seen snorkelling.

If you have information that may assist police to locate Jake please call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or crimestoppers.com.au.

Man, 20, disappears while snorkelling off Lord Howe Island

Megan Levy and Katie Burgess

Updated December 3, 2015 — 7:46pm,first published 6:19am

Rough conditions have hampered the search for a 20-year-old snorkeller who disappeared off Lord Howe Island on Wednesday afternoon.

Jake Barrett had been snorkelling at Middle Beach, a surfing beach on the eastern side of the island, about 2pm on Wednesday when he failed to return to shore, police say.

The Canberra man's friends raised the alarm and began searching for him, however they could not find any trace of him.

Wild winds and four-metre swells confined rescuers to combing the surrounding beaches and rocks on Thursday morning.

A NSW Police spokesman said serious concerns were held for the man's safety.

The former Radford College student was believed to be on holiday at the time, visiting a friend who had been working on Lord Howe Island.

One of the man's friends was believed to be on the beach when he was snorkelling, while another was possibly surfing.

The police spokesman said the missing man was wearing board shorts, fins, a snorkel and goggles and was last seen snorkelling about 20 metres from shore.

It was unclear whether he was an experienced swimmer, the spokesman said.

The search on Wednesday afternoon involved five boats and a civilian aircraft, a number of scuba divers and snorkellers. The search was halted about 7pm on Wednesday.

Officers attached to the Mid North Coast Local Area Command and other emergency services will continue the search at daybreak on Thursday.

Search scaled back for Canberra snorkeller missing off Lord Howe Island

Ben Cooper Brisbane Times

Updated December 7, 2015 — 9:54am,first published 9:12am

The search for a Canberra man missing off Lord Howe Island became a "body recovery operation" on Sunday, police say.

The search for 20-year-old Jake Barrett was scaled back on Sunday afternoon, according to duty officer Guy Flaherty from the Mid North Coast Local Area Command.

The former Radford College student was last seen snorkelling about 20 metres off Middle Beach's shoreline at 2pm on Wednesday.

Difficult weather conditions hampered the search initially as winds of up to 45 kilometres per hour confined police and islanders to land on Wednesday and Thursday.

The island also recorded four metre swells on Thursday.

Commercial fishing boats and a light aircraft were used over the weekend to scour the coast.

"There is no government aircraft involved in the search," Detective Inspector Flaherty said.

"However a resident with his own light plane spent about 60 minutes in the air on Saturday."

Friends to gather for missing snorkeller

3:53pm Dec 11, 2015 Nine News

Family and friends of a 20-year-old snorkeller, missing off Lord Howe Island in NSW for nine days, will wrap a prayer tree with messages to him at his former Canberra high school.

ACT man Jake Barrett was reported missing by friends after he failed to return from a snorkelling trip on December 2.

An invitation to the memorial, posted by a family member on Facebook, asks people "to gather in solidarity" at the Prayer Tree outside Radford College Chapel at 6pm on Sunday.

"All are welcome to bring a message or memory of Jake that can be bound to the tree," it reads.

Mr Barrett was a former student of the college.

Radford College chaplain Nikolai Blaskow included the young man in his official Christmas message.

"I offer, in the words of our Principal, Fiona Godfrey: the thoughts, hopes and prayers of the entire Radford College community to Jake Barrett's family, his friends and the staff who taught him as they wait," his post on the school's website reads.

Emergency services concluded a full-scale search for Mr Barrett on Monday however police have spent the week conducting land searches and dives, a police spokeswoman said on Friday.

Commercial fisherman and private aircraft have also been scoping the area, located 600km east of Port Macquarie.

A close friend of Mr Barrett has previously said family and friends will not be making public comment until a result has been reached.