Melbourne man Sunny Randhawa, 38, drove his wife and two young children and parents to Queensland in his brand new car for the Easter break before tragedy struck.
On Sunday night, Randhawa’s toddler daughter slipped into their hotel pool.
Randhawa dived in to save her before getting into trouble himself.
His father Gurjinder Singh, 65, also tried to help but both men died at the scene.
Relatives have told 9News Randhawa had been a kind-hearted family man and a loving husband, while his father was retired and “full of life”.
Family friend Nav Malhi said the news had deeply impacted Victoria’s Indian community.
“(Sunny) was a really great guy,” he said.
“It is really sad, everyone is pretty sad in the community. Horrible news.”
The pair make up the third Indian family living in Victoria to succumb to the same tragic fate.
Police have said the weekend’s tragedy occurred because the pair didn’t know how to swim.
Malhi said it was important Indian families learned to swim if they were planning to move to or visit Australia.
“Where we are coming from, the north part of India, there’s no ocean. People really hardly know how to swim,” he said.
“I would recommend everyone just to go and learn swimming as Australia is all ocean.”
Randhawa’s wife and mother have returned to Melbourne and are now planning a funeral for their two loved ones.
