An American student on holiday in South Africa is believed to have drowned on the Wild Coast after he and a group of friends decided to go for a late night swim at the weekend.

The victim‚ identified as Nicolas Upton‚ was holidaying at Bulungula Lodge located just south of Coffee Bay when he and four others decided to go for a swim between 10pm and 11pm on Sunday.

Upton‚ believed to be 20 years old‚ and other fellow students got into difficulty shortly after jumping into the water. Fishermen at the scene described the conditions as “fine” at the time.

A team of police divers and sniffer dogs from the K9 Search and Rescue Unit scoured the shoreline for the missing US student on Monday. They were joined by local residents and EMS rescue workers from Mthatha.

However‚ mist and rain hampered the search efforts conducted by the rescue teams and the search was eventually called off around noon.

A helicopter is expected to join the search‚ weather permitting‚ on Tuesday.

One of the members of the group‚ who identified herself as Tess Kerins‚ said the incident happened between 10pm and 11pm.

“We thought it would be a fun thing to do [going for a late night swim]. We were swimming in the ocean‚” said Kerins‚ adding they were not sure if Upton was swept away. “We’re not sure yet. We don’t know anything‚” she said‚ before ending the call.