POLICE say a day-long search for a man, reported missing in crocodile-infested Thomatis Creek when he was actually alive and well in the Cairns CBD, was justified.

Two State Emergency Service boats with two volunteers on each spent yesterday morning scouring the banks of the creek and the Barron River for any sign of the 48-year-old man who went missing on Tuesday night.

He was reported missing by another man, who woke up on Wednesday morning, could not see his mate, and reported him missing to police about lunchtime.

A water police vessel and an SES boat spent Wednesday afternoon searching for the man, after his friend suggested he may have fallen into the dangerous waters as he tried to board a small dinghy from the river bank.

The search for the man resumed early yesterday morning before it was called off just after 11am when news came through that the missing man was seen in the Cairns CBD on Wednesday night.

Despite the cost of the search and the man hours put into finding the man, Cairns water police officer-in-charge Sgt Andrew Ibell said the effort was justified.

"His friend was quite justified in reporting him missing, as were the concerns held for his safety," he said.

"The evidence we had was it was likely he had come to some grief and had fallen into the water.

"Obviously he managed to get out again and leave."

Sgt Ibell said the man had lived an "itinerant" lifestyle and was probably not aware there were concerns for his wellbeing.

"It is a situation where he probably wasn’t even aware someone was looking for him," he said.

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