Neil Fears, from Belper in Derbyshire, was reported missing by his fellow divers on Tuesday after he failed to surface.
The 51-year-old's body was recovered near the wreck of the SS Stanfield, near La Manga, about three hours later.
It is not yet known why the experienced diver failed to surface.
His daughter Cerys said: "He was always there if I needed him for whatever situation, he'd do anything to look after his family."
Mr Fears was a director of IT firm Davidson Richards in Derby.
"He was very hardworking and could be very determined," his daughter added.
"My boyfriend said he was strong and ambitious, but he was also very kind and caring, generous and very clever."
Mr Fears had been diving with three others and was paired up with one of them.
A spokesperson for the Guardia Civil in Murcia said the paired diver had "turned to his partner and realised he wasn't there".
The divers had been using equipment which regulated oxygen supply and pressure, depending on the user's depth under water.
This meant they had to return to the surface regularly, but Mr Fears failed to do so as planned.

Avon and Somerset Police were called to the junction of Creswicke Road and Airport Road in Knowle West at about 21:05 GMT on Tuesday after reports a man had been run over.
Officers said the crash involved a car and a pedestrian, aged in his 20s, who died from his injuries.
A 30-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and is police custody.
The road has reopened but a nearby petrol station on Hengrove Way remains sealed off while investigations continue.
A spokesman said: "A full investigation has been launched and one of our priorities is to ensure the victim's next of kin are given all the support they need."

But he hopes they will not create pressure to increase salaries in Wales.
There is an agreement which limits the regions bidding for each other's players, however Scarlets faced competition when re-signing centre Scott Williams who was out of contract at the end of the season.
"You've got to be realistic because it is a free market," Short said.
"No agreement can constrain someone's ability to look for work, and regions will be ambitious and will have their own player requirements.
"How the financial fallout from that works is part of the regions' agreement, and one would hope that you wouldn't see pressure within Wales to increase salaries because we've got enough to deal with outside of Wales."
Wales international Williams had been expected to renew his national dual contract (NDC), funded 60% by the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU).
However, the WRU withdrew their offer with union chairman Gareth Davies saying it was because the regions had "upped the ante".
Williams ended up signing a conventional deal with the Scarlets.
The NDCs were introduced as a mechanism to stop high-profile players leaving Wales for England and France.
Short was chairman of the regions' representative body - now called Pro Rugby Wales - when they negotiated the deal which funds and governs domestic rugby in Wales.
He said he would not have expected the union to get involved in a bidding war, and backed the dual contracts.
"The union have been excellent in supporting regions in the past year," he added.
"The NDCs are working well and everybody should recognise that it's a new concept and will take some time to settle down, but it is settling down well.
"And congratulations to the union - it's been a sea-change in the relationship over the past year or so."
The daughter of a British diver who died while exploring a World War One shipwreck off the coast of Spain has paid tribute to her "caring" father.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
A pedestrian has been run over and killed in Bristol.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
Scarlets chairman Nigel Short admits it will be hard to stop regions competing against each other for Welsh players.