21-year-old Victorian man has drowned after going swimming in a canal while on holidays with a group of friends on the Gold Coast.

Police say the man, from East Keilor in Melbourne, entered the waterway at Broadbeach with two friends but failed to resurface around 5.30am.

Police and Surf Lifesaving crews rushed to the scene and launched a search on boats and jet skis near the intersection of Hooker and Sunshine Boulevards