Peter James Stenhouse, 30, who grew up in Upper Hutt and attended Heretaunga College and Massey University, was holidaying in Galicia in northwest Spain when he disappeared last week.
The animator had worked on international projects for the New York Metropolitan Opera and with the lead singer of band Sigur Ros.
His mum, Cathie Stenhouse, said today that Peter, who loved travelling, had been holidaying with his partner, Caroline Haggerty, when he went for a swim on beach that was "like Piha" on August 22.
Caroline was with him at the time and Peter had told her he was going to go for one more swim. She wandered back to where they were staying nearby and had expected him to follow. She raised the alarm soon after.
The Spanish authorities, who Mrs Stenhouse described as brilliant, had been searching for him non-stop since and they pulled out all the stops yesterday because locals advised a tide change was likely to bring his body back to shore.
Mrs Stenhouse said it did just that, returning Peter's body very close to the spot where he went into the water.
Peter's dad, Bob, had travelled to Spain from Taupo to help with the search. He joined Caroline and her parents, who had travelled from Hastings.
Mrs Stenhouse said Peter, who worked freelance and had spent the last 10 months living in Madrid, had been travelling on and off for the past four years.
He had cycled through Europe on his own with "one pair of underpants".
"He also travelled all the way through Cambodia and Vietnam on his own for six months. He was just that kind of quirky," Mrs Stenhouse said.
"It's a rare talent that has been cut short... he was so well known around the country and overseas."
Mrs Stenhouse said Peter would be cremated in Spain before his ashes returned home with his dad. The family would probably hold a memorial rather than a funeral, as Peter would not have wanted something sombre.
"Something on a mountain top somewhere is more him," Mrs Stenhouse said.
Peter's sister, Jennie, who lived in South Africa, would be returning for the memorial.
Leo Warner, a friend who Peter worked for at London-based Fifty Nine Productions, said in a letter to the family that he could not "begin to express my sorrow and shock at this tragedy".
"Peter is a very very dear friend to myself and my wife Sophie, and I still find that I am unable to grasp the full horror of the event."
He came across Peter when they were looking for someone to work on a huge animated centrepiece for the New York Metropolitan Opera's 125th Gala Anniversary.
He said Peter's finished piece was a "virtuosic triumph of animated ingenuity, and widely recognised by critics, audience and colleagues alike as the highlight of the [star-studded] event".
"It's generally considered quite an achievement to upstage Placido Domingo, not to mention a dozen more of the world's best-loved opera singers," Warner said.
"From that moment, we tried to persuade Peter to work with us on almost every one of our key projects. He picked and chose from those that we offered to him very carefully, as he was obviously [and often infuriatingly] an artist with great integrity.
"Money was of little interest to him, so tempting him to work on something was always a case of making sure that the piece itself was creatively engaging, rather than particularly lucrative."
Warner said Peter was always keen to opt for the freelancer's lifestyle, once saying "the model whereby we simply deposited large lumps of cash in his bank account from time to time without mentioning it was his ideal solution to the 'issue' of employment".
He said Peter's work on a live show with the lead singer from Sigur Ros was "extraordinary".
"There is no question that Peter was the most talented artist that I have ever worked with, in any field. When talking proudly about him to other colleagues and friends, we frequently and accurately apply the word 'genius'."
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