Watch: Bodyboarder's extreme Huka Falls stunt

An extreme water daredevil has gone over the Huka Falls on a bodyboard.

In a video posted on Facebook last night the stuntman, who goes by the handle #DrBubbles, can be seen boarding down the rapids before plunging off the falls in front of stunned tourists.

Water Safety NZ chief executive Jonty Mills has condemned the actions as reckless and irresponsible.

It's understood #DrBubbles is 32-year-old Hayley Patuwai of Porirua, who was reported missing in 2008 while kayaking from Taitahi Bay Beach in Wellington to Picton.

Patuwai was found when he heard his name on the radio in Timaru.

The Huka Falls are the largest falls on the Waikato River, where the stream - normally 100m wide - is forced through a 20m wide gorge and over a dramatic 11m drop.

Up to 220,000 litres a second gushes through the gorge and shoots out more than 8m into a pool of water below.

Since 1980 there have been 5 accidental and recreational deaths at Huka Falls
• 1980: a person fishing at the falls was swept away when control gates opened
• 1992: two people slipped into the falls and drowned in separate accidents
• 1993: a kayaker attempting to go over the falls drowned
• 1995: a scuba diver at the base of falls drowned.

- NZ Herald