Friends of a Vancouver man who disappeared in the waters off the Dominican Republic are combing the area for clues -- but say they still haven't received any help from Canadian foreign affairs after five days.

Hady Quan, 32, was sucked beneath the water on Dec. 28 while trying to rescue a stranger trapped by a rip tide. His family and friends have since organized their own search party, saying they have contacted the Canadian embassy in Santo Domingo and the Department of Foreign Affairs but received no help.

"The only people out there are our people, the people we have hired to be out there," Gabriela Ionita, a friend of Quan's who is assisting in the search, told CTV British Columbia on Jan. 1. "It doesn't seem that we're getting any assistance whatsoever at this point."

The search party consists of 20 people, said Quan's friend Marius Purcel from Vancouver, adding that the efforts have been mostly financed by family and friends. The group has been trying to get leads from people living near the resort.

The department of Foreign Affairs, however, insists it is on the case. Spokesperson Bernard Nguyen told CTV.ca that his department has been in regular contact with officials from the Dominican Republic, even convincing them to extend the search beyond the regularly allotted 48 hours.

Quan was on his first day of holidays at the five-star Excellence Punta Cana Resort with his girlfriend Tiffany Weiland when they saw someone calling for help from the ocean. Quan rushed into the water to help the man but was soon overtaken by the waves.

He disappeared just off the shore of the resort's private beach, but Weiland couldn't find anyone to help.

"It's tragic," Purcel told CTV Vancouver. "(It's a) five-star resort (with) no life guards, no life-saving equipment."

He says Quan's family and friends are trying to stay hopeful, but it becomes more difficult with each passing day.

"You pray and you hope for a miracle and you hang in there but it just seems futile," he said.