Teams of lifesavers from clubs in the region are rostered on to help with the search twice a day until next Friday.
Jack was swept out to sea on Wednesday while playing at Shelley Bay with family members.
Yesterday, police announced the search for Jack had been scaled back.
The officer in charge of the case, Inspector Karl Wright-St Clair said given the time involved since his disappearance and after speaking with his family, police decided to cut back the resources being used.
"However we will be continuing to reassess this on a daily basis with a focus on bringing Jack home if we possibly can as conditions allow."
Inspector Wright-St Clair said hundreds of people would likely converge on the area over the weekend to help.
He urged them to "take extreme care around the water".
Blustery conditions, with winds up to 35 knots, hampered the search but navy divers, coast guard, surf lifesavers and members of the public - who could be seen searching the rocky shoreline
The conditions are expected to worsen today, said Leigh Sefton, lifesaving education manager surf lifesaving eastern region.
The search would be extended to Matakana Island where the prevailing currents typically travel from Mount Maunganui.
Mr Sefton was "confident" the boy was no longer in the area where he was swept out to sea.
He said Land SAR and workmates of Jack's mother had been searching for the young boy in the area while members of the public had donned wetsuits and dive gear to help find him.
"We are going to see people conducting their own searches and we can't avoid that but it's probably a positive thing with more sets of eyes."
Mr Sefton said should anyone find young Jack they should secure him and not move him and call the police immediately.
He said teams of lifesavers from surf lifesaving clubs in the region were rostered on to help with the search twice a day until next Friday but conceded there was a possibility they may not find the little boy.
"It's a possibility but I'd like to think we will. We are trying to stay positive."
The Weekend Herald visited Jack's grandparents home in Tauranga but a man, believed to be his grandfather, asked for privacy.
"We are still looking for him."
Meanwhile, a givealittle page set up to raise funds for Jack's family to help them get through the "many tough days ahead of them" has brought in $23,000 more than the $5000 target that had been set.
By 6pm on Friday night, the page had raised $28,178.
- By James Ihaka of the New Zealand Herald
