Hi All
Before I begin - this looks like a pretty cool forum, I found it on a google search.
I was on Phuket Island from the 18th December to the 4th January, and thus was there for the Tsunami.
I should point out - the diving there is stunning, so I strongly urge you all to visit once they have rebuilt. I personally will be re-visiting later this year to help their economy if nothing else...
on the 24th December, I completed my Padi advanced open water certification on Phi Phi island (did shark point, King Cruiser wreck and the bay where the film "the beach" was shot, if anyone has been there).
Unfortunately I got an ear infection in my left ear from having problems with equalizing my left ear during the deep dive and as such was put on 2 days rest, so I wasnt involved on the diving between the 25/26th of December (believe me at the time I was upset, as I wanted to crack on with my wreck diving cert), so I spent the two days doing shallow swimming/ snorkling in either the pool or the sea.
I awoke on the 26th at around 8am to find my hotel room was shaking, fairly mildly - which was an aftershock of the 6am quake, I slept through (some people I met though woke to find stuff falling off the table.etc). From having a background in tetonic activity, I was aware that it was a quake, but I assumed that it was a) local and b) low level. After a minute or so, it subsided and I thought nothing more of it, got up and went to breakfast.
It was a beautifully clear/ hot day so I didnt think any more of the tremour and went down to the IT suite to send a few emails back to the office in the UK to touch base (as I run an internet firm), and check that everything was OK - which it was so I hit the beach.
The first thing I noticed from the beach was that the waves hitting the sand were a bit choppier than usual, but not much and assumed it was a tide change.
I swam out to around 50-70ft out to sea where I talked to some other early bathers, when all of a sudden this allmighty current started pulling, and literally in about 2 seconds I was 100ft further back, ankle deep in water which should have been up to my neck. so I started walking back to the beach, when the water came back in and litreally pushed me back up the beach (wasnt a head over heals thing though).
Completely puzzled I treaded water in the sea for what must have been about 30 seconds trying to figure out what the hell just happened. Just then the water started swooshing out again, much harder than before. As I was in shallower water, I literally punched my arm into the sea bed, held my breath and rode the current out.
The people I was swiming with, didnt have that luxury and were too deep out to touch the bed or swim against the current and got sucked out.
I got up and ran over to some Thais with jet ski's (used to rent them out.etc), who had allready seen them and in a heart beat where on those ski's and picking them up. And I must say i've never seen such strength in my life, they litterally pulled these guys out the water buy grabbing their hands and wrenching them out (the people were clinging onto a boey for dear life). By the time the jet ski's had pulled the people out, there wasnt any water left on the beach, so both went straight out to sea, put the nose of the ski down into the water and sort of flipped it 180 degrees around, reved the engines and went full throttle up the beach till the jet ski wouldnt move any more. they then all piled off and ran up the beach.
Other people however didnt see the urgency of the fact the sea was now dissapearing behind the horizon, and walked right out to sea to look at corral/ fish.etc whilst the life guards went nuts.
about 30 seconds later, the first wave started coming in. Was about 5 metres high and jet black with a foam rim on the top. and the next thing we knew, it was smashing these people that were out to sea into the rocks, was horrific.
I run up to my family and start yelling at them to get out the beach, when a life guard grabs my shoulder and points to a small child sitting by the edge of where the sea should have been, and just yelled "get the kid". So i started running towards this boy along with 5 other guys. One of the guys who was closer than me got there first, scooped him up over his shoulder and starts running back up the beach, so I did the same. By this stage the wave was worryingly close (about 20ft behind me), and I dived over a brick wall to get out of its way.
The wave hit the top part of the beach and then receeded back out to sea. At this point I re-entered the beach area to see if there was anyone under collapsed shacks and parasols, as well as to try and see if I could find my sandals (which amazingly I did). I then found out that the man that grabbed the kid was in fact my dad, who was clinging to a collapsed parasol after it tried to drag him back out (my dad threw the kid at a life guard who was off the beach before getting hit by the wave). So I helped him up and checked if he was OK.
At that point we saw the second wave, which was much bigger, and travelling far faster than the first. We both darted over the brick wall and behind a building and watched it coming in.
To our astonishment it destroyed this building and leveled the wall, so we turned and started to run.
Unfortunately, my exit route was blocked by an olympic sized swiming pool, as I exited the beach slightly further left than my dad (who got out the pool area ok).
The only reason I survived was that there was a small path that ran down the middle of the pool (presumably for novelty/ diving off) which I was able to run down.
I turned round to see the sea had allready hit the pool and was still coming. so I ran down a small shopping strip, into the lobby and out to the front of the hotel, where the sea was waiting as it had travelled round the hotel (by this time though, it was about 4ft deep and had stopped traveling, so you could just wade through it).
Before I begin - this looks like a pretty cool forum, I found it on a google search.
I was on Phuket Island from the 18th December to the 4th January, and thus was there for the Tsunami.
I should point out - the diving there is stunning, so I strongly urge you all to visit once they have rebuilt. I personally will be re-visiting later this year to help their economy if nothing else...
on the 24th December, I completed my Padi advanced open water certification on Phi Phi island (did shark point, King Cruiser wreck and the bay where the film "the beach" was shot, if anyone has been there).
Unfortunately I got an ear infection in my left ear from having problems with equalizing my left ear during the deep dive and as such was put on 2 days rest, so I wasnt involved on the diving between the 25/26th of December (believe me at the time I was upset, as I wanted to crack on with my wreck diving cert), so I spent the two days doing shallow swimming/ snorkling in either the pool or the sea.
I awoke on the 26th at around 8am to find my hotel room was shaking, fairly mildly - which was an aftershock of the 6am quake, I slept through (some people I met though woke to find stuff falling off the table.etc). From having a background in tetonic activity, I was aware that it was a quake, but I assumed that it was a) local and b) low level. After a minute or so, it subsided and I thought nothing more of it, got up and went to breakfast.
It was a beautifully clear/ hot day so I didnt think any more of the tremour and went down to the IT suite to send a few emails back to the office in the UK to touch base (as I run an internet firm), and check that everything was OK - which it was so I hit the beach.
The first thing I noticed from the beach was that the waves hitting the sand were a bit choppier than usual, but not much and assumed it was a tide change.
I swam out to around 50-70ft out to sea where I talked to some other early bathers, when all of a sudden this allmighty current started pulling, and literally in about 2 seconds I was 100ft further back, ankle deep in water which should have been up to my neck. so I started walking back to the beach, when the water came back in and litreally pushed me back up the beach (wasnt a head over heals thing though).
Completely puzzled I treaded water in the sea for what must have been about 30 seconds trying to figure out what the hell just happened. Just then the water started swooshing out again, much harder than before. As I was in shallower water, I literally punched my arm into the sea bed, held my breath and rode the current out.
The people I was swiming with, didnt have that luxury and were too deep out to touch the bed or swim against the current and got sucked out.
I got up and ran over to some Thais with jet ski's (used to rent them out.etc), who had allready seen them and in a heart beat where on those ski's and picking them up. And I must say i've never seen such strength in my life, they litterally pulled these guys out the water buy grabbing their hands and wrenching them out (the people were clinging onto a boey for dear life). By the time the jet ski's had pulled the people out, there wasnt any water left on the beach, so both went straight out to sea, put the nose of the ski down into the water and sort of flipped it 180 degrees around, reved the engines and went full throttle up the beach till the jet ski wouldnt move any more. they then all piled off and ran up the beach.
Other people however didnt see the urgency of the fact the sea was now dissapearing behind the horizon, and walked right out to sea to look at corral/ fish.etc whilst the life guards went nuts.
about 30 seconds later, the first wave started coming in. Was about 5 metres high and jet black with a foam rim on the top. and the next thing we knew, it was smashing these people that were out to sea into the rocks, was horrific.
I run up to my family and start yelling at them to get out the beach, when a life guard grabs my shoulder and points to a small child sitting by the edge of where the sea should have been, and just yelled "get the kid". So i started running towards this boy along with 5 other guys. One of the guys who was closer than me got there first, scooped him up over his shoulder and starts running back up the beach, so I did the same. By this stage the wave was worryingly close (about 20ft behind me), and I dived over a brick wall to get out of its way.
The wave hit the top part of the beach and then receeded back out to sea. At this point I re-entered the beach area to see if there was anyone under collapsed shacks and parasols, as well as to try and see if I could find my sandals (which amazingly I did). I then found out that the man that grabbed the kid was in fact my dad, who was clinging to a collapsed parasol after it tried to drag him back out (my dad threw the kid at a life guard who was off the beach before getting hit by the wave). So I helped him up and checked if he was OK.
At that point we saw the second wave, which was much bigger, and travelling far faster than the first. We both darted over the brick wall and behind a building and watched it coming in.
To our astonishment it destroyed this building and leveled the wall, so we turned and started to run.
Unfortunately, my exit route was blocked by an olympic sized swiming pool, as I exited the beach slightly further left than my dad (who got out the pool area ok).
The only reason I survived was that there was a small path that ran down the middle of the pool (presumably for novelty/ diving off) which I was able to run down.
I turned round to see the sea had allready hit the pool and was still coming. so I ran down a small shopping strip, into the lobby and out to the front of the hotel, where the sea was waiting as it had travelled round the hotel (by this time though, it was about 4ft deep and had stopped traveling, so you could just wade through it).
).
