A US citizen listed as missing while holidaying in Australia five years ago will be deported after he was found by police in Cairns.

The man, now 60, was reported missing in December 2010 near Port Douglas, where he was last sighted and believed to be heading to a Mossman beach with his kayak.

• ‘No more money’: Greece shuts down banks

The kayak was recovered a month later at Wangetti Beach.

There had been reported sightings of the man, who featured regularly in missing person’s articles since 2010, but family, friends and police had been unable to make contact with him.

It was not until Saturday night that police stumbled across him while investigating a matter in Cairns.

He allegedly confessed to police that he had been listed as a missing person.

The man, who had been visiting Australia on a tourist visa, has been detained by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection before his removal from the country.