A 25-year-old man drowned in the pool at a Pietermaritzburg guest house on Sunday morning, KwaZulu-Natal paramedics said.

The man had been one of several people jumping into and then climbing out of the murky water in the pool at the McPherson Drive, Lincolnmead, Guest Lodge, Netcare 911 spokesman Jeff Wicks said in a statement.

He failed to surface after one of his jumps, and his friends didn't notice. He was eventually found at the bottom.

"By the time Netcare 911 paramedics arrived a the scene the man had succumbed. He was declared dead."