POLICE divers will today make a third attempt to retrieve the body of a 23-year-old Australian navy officer who drowned in a dangerous section of Babinda Creek on Sunday afternoon.

The man, from visiting navy vessel HMAS Norman, was at the popular swimming hole, 60km south of Cairns, with three friends when he went missing upstream of Devil’s Pool Lookout.

It is believed strong currents in a notorious part of the creek pulled him under, trapping him between rocks.

Yesterday morning, SES volunteers and police continued to search for the man after attempts to find his body on Sunday afternoon failed.

Innisfail police Insp Peter Mansfield said SES crews scoured the creek banks up to 1.5km below the site where the man was last seen, but found nothing.

Insp Mansfield said police then narrowed the search area and he was liaising with water police divers.

"It’s a difficult and dangerous area," he said.

"Putting someone else in the water in that position could have a similar result, so we have to be very careful in assessing how we go about it.

"The water police will make that assessment."

The navy officer is the 17th person to drown at the Boulders.

A Defence department spokesman said the man’s next of kin had been notified.

Emergency Management Queensland regional director Wayne Coutts, who has been involved in several rescues and recoveries at Babinda Creek, said visitors were ignoring warning signs and guardrails.

"We’ve done some rescues there and while we’re getting some people off the rocks other tourists are going out onto the rocks to get a better view," he said.

"I think it’s unfortunate that people continue to take the risks."

Division 1 Cairns councillor Paul Gregory said signs at the creek would need to be reviewed but he was confident they were already prominent.

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