HAWAI'I KAI — A man believed to be in his mid- to late 20s apparently drowned off Portlock Point yesterday, near the surf break known as China Walls.

Fire Department spokesman Capt. Terry Seelig said a call came in about 2:20 p.m. about a swimmer in distress off the point. Firefighters arrived about 10 minutes later, he said.

"When we arrived the swimmer was on a ledge near Portlock Point, and he'd been brought there by bystanders who had spotted him in the water and had retrieved him from the ocean," he said. "They pulled him onto this ledge and were doing CPR."

Seelig said the victim, who was reportedly from Honolulu, was unresponsive when fire personnel arrived.

"We took over care, and continued until the helicopter arrived. We loaded the person onto the basket and lifted him from the ledge at the base of the cliff. And about 3:10 p.m. we brought him up to the top near Po'ipu Drive where the ambulance was waiting."

Bryan Cheplic, spokesman for the city Emergency Services Department, said paramedics transported the victim in critical condition to a hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

There were conflicting reports about what happened, Seelig said. Apparently the man had been swimming or diving with friends when he became separated from them. People in a yard at the top of the cliff spotted the man floating in the water. Those people and others near the water's edge then pulled the man from the water.

John Mansfield, 29, who lives in the neighborhood and frequents the waters near Portlock Point, said the waves and cliff ledges can be treacherous to those who are not familiar with them.

"People who jump off the rocks don't realize what those waves can do to you," said Mansfield, who arrived after the victim had been taken to the hospital and was saddened to hear the man had died.

"Trying to get back up can be tough. There's no foothold to grab, it's all slippery, the waves hit against the rocks as they come in," Mansfield said. "It looks calm, but those big waves will come in and slam you against the rocks."