A rising star of the surf scene has died after trying to ride huge waves generated by Hurricane Irma in the Caribbean.

Zander Venezia, 16, a champion surfer from Barbados, paddled out into the surf with a group of friends on Tuesday morning, local time.

He was reportedly knocked off his board, hitting a shallow reef. An autopsy showed he was knocked unconscious and then drowned.

While Barbados is not in the path of the Category 5 hurricane, which has torn through the Caribbean, surfers have arrived on the island lured by the powerful waves pounding the east coast.