Recently went on a trip with some friends to the above dive resort. On the first day one of our group noted early on that there was someone smoking in the compressor room, and also outside the compressor room, and the whole equipment area smelt heavily of smoke.
The compressor room had two compressors which could each fill 4 tanks at once. The intake to the compressors was inside the room, and the only way in was via a single doorway. About 3m in front of the door was a table and chairs where crew would relax, and smoke. With the volume of air being drawn in, this would certainly cause tobacco smoke to be drawn into the tanks
We mentioned this to dive crew who were rather blasé. Later, on the boats (this is mainly single tank diving and only 15-30mins to dive sites) the crew both boat and dive were smoking heavily. On our second dive, the passengers had not yet all returned to the boat, but some dive crew were already smoking on the boat, one next to my BCD. When this was commented on, the guy replied so you think you make the rules now? Both their boats used outboard engines and usually the crew would be sat around the engines / fuel tanks smoking. One of the boats (wooden) had a lot of water in the bilge which smelt heavily of fuel.
As the owners were leaving for a Europe the next day, one of the group, who has a back ground in HSE and importantly in gasses, spoke with the owner. At first he looked for an opportunity to discredit our background (how many dives, what certification level etc). Having failed to find a way to BS his way out of this he said. I dont have a safety problem, Im not going to change and if you dont like it you can go else where.
We decided to carry on, and take note of our own safety.
There also a general lack of space for equipment to be stored, and sand * was everywhere. Some BCDs had to be left on the floor or propped up against the wall and another quote from the owner was 'a good BCD should be able to withstand a little sand', while at the same time ensuring their rental equipment was up on pegs.
(*I have dived at many other remote dive areas where despite being on the beach, the dive shop wasnt covered in sand)
The dive guides were a mixture of European (what I would call part time vacation types) and local guys. The local guys were pretty good, but the European ones tended to do their own dives. Briefings were just that, brief, and without being given much guidance as too what to expect of the reef, we were asked what depth we want to go to?!?
No buddy checks were ever suggested, and there was no drill for lost buddy procedure, or a recall system back to the boat in case of emergency.
Despite the website stating Dive with fish not other divers', there was often up to 16 divers on a single boat and gearing up took forever due to the limited space. We are a fairly experienced group of divers who like to look at small stuff so are relatively slow along the reef , I can only assume this must have been boring to the guides so they repeatedly went off. On one dive the guides werent seen all dive, except in the distance where they appeared to be larking around by themselves. Repeatedly the guide assigned as sweeper to watch the back of the group, finished up at the front very quickly into the dive. So if someone did have a problem, there was no dive crew to follow up. On one difficult swim between pinnacles in current the dive guide pushed ahead, and when one of the group was in difficulty, didnt bother coming back. The next day the same person lost a fin in current. They were able to grab the fin, but needed help to be held in the current whilst replacing the fin, yet again, no dive guide to help, and I dont think they even know what happened, and just comment that this diver is not experienced!!!!
In addition to the in water behavior the crew would repeatedly surface before the divers and be back on board the dive boat before some people had even surfaced! During one dive when the guide was actuing as buddy to one of our group, the guide was missing all dive except at the end where she gave our member a safety stop sign, and was next seen already back on the boat.
There was some good diving on the other side of the island, but it is long ride over, and dive crew advised it is strong currents (even the dive guides who have never been there told us this???) This concerned some of our group and so, 2 people dropped out from this trip. As it happens there was only minor current there. I am kind of surprised that a dive operator who has been in the region for many years does not know what the currents will be like in any given area until the boat arrives; they should have a basic understanding of the tides!!!
One of the remaining divers elected to do a boat dive back near the resort on the wooden boat. This is first hand account of what happened while the main group was diving on the other side.
On the 6th day of diving, all of my troupe went off to dive the other side of the island. I didn't want to go due to being told there were strong currents expected so decided to stay on land and dive the regular from the shore boat schedule. We were on the wooden boat for this dive and on the last dive of the previous day the crew had trouble starting one of the engines. We started to head out to sea and the crew could only get one of the thee engines going. We were cruising slowly on one engine when one of the others came to life so could speed up some. It took about 10 minutes of cruising on 1 to 2 motors to get the 3rd one, the one in the middle going. During this time there were about 4 different crew working on this. I was standing in the middle of the boat looking towards the back talking to another diver just as we picked up full speed. At this time there were 3 crew at the back of the boat and suddenly, 2 fell off the back of either side into the water with us moving at full speed. I was confused as I thought they just fell off by accident but we werent slowing down or turning around to go back and get them. It was then that I saw flames jumping up from the back of the boat coming from the middle motor. I then realised that the 2 crew bailed off the boat but they did not yell or say anything to the rest of us about what was happening back there. The flames got bigger and bigger and were flaming to about the same height as me which is 510.
The first thing I looked at was the open clear plastic jerry container full of gasoline at the back of the boat very close to the fire. It was open with no lid on it and top hole was about 10 cms in diameter with gasoline sloshing around inside. It was then the 2 working motors were cut but we were still moving on the power of the one motor that was on fire as it probably could not be cut off due to it burning. By this time people were shouting and everyone became aware of what was happening. People were yelling to jump off the boat. Just jump. I think in the confusion and shock for most us, we just stood there for a few seconds before we realised what was really happening. People started to jump off the moving boat not taking anything with them. I do not know who was telling us to jump, probably the dive guides but I cannot be sure. I do know there were guides in the water before me.
I was wearing my booties and wetsuit up to the waist when I jumped at the same time a Welsh man on my right and Belgian girl on my left. If I can add up the weight of the 3 of us, it would total about 450 lbs jumping off one side all at the same time. When I hit the water I came up quickly and immediately looked around for the boat. To my horror, the back end of the boat had swung around (most likely from us all jumping at the same and no one jumping from the other side) and it with the burning motor and still active prop were coming straight for our heads. I tucked down and swam for my life. I was hindered greatly by my gaping wetsuit hanging at my waist. I am not sure if the Belgian girl beside me did not look up in time or just could not swim fast enough as she was attired the same as me but the prop of the engine caught her wetsuit and started the eat it up. She was caught in it and was being dragged by the back end of the burning boat while screaming for her life that she was caught, the prop was cutting her leg and for someone to help her. I started to swim for her but could hear others yelling to swim away from the boat and it didnt matter, I could never swim fast enough to catch a moving boat. I could see her being dragged away right at the base of the boat which was on fire. I was helpless to help her at all.
I swam to a group of other crew and divers (we were all over the place as there were approximately 16 to 20 staff and divers in the water) and watched while only one Indonesian crew member left on the abandoned boat run the open gasoline can to the front of the boat and go back to try to put out the fire while the Belgian girl was still being dragged and chopped up. During this time there were no one steering the moving boat and it was going around in circles and in all directions. The sole crew member left I saw throwing salt water onto the fire with a construction workers type of helmet over the flames.
During all of this with the boat wandering all over the place, fishing boats appeared to rescue all of us at various locations in the water. It was during this time that the Belgian girl somehow managed to get out of the wetsuit and free herself from the burning boat. The crew member on the boat could not help her as there was a fire between him and her and he could not shut the motor off. The boat that rescued the Belgian girl headed straight back to the dive resort as she had gashes on the inside of her right thigh and her foot was cut up requiring stitches.
The fishing boats that rescued us took us back to our boat as the fire was now extinguished. We got on our disabled boat and one of the fishing boats tugged us back to the resort. The crew member that stayed on the boat sustained burns to his left shin and toes and had 2 large open gashed on the shin of his right leg. He was obviously in pain. Please see attached photo of him and burnt 2nd motor, he deserves a medal for being so brave and staying on the boat to save it and all of our gear. He definitely risked his life on that day.
When we got back to shore, we were told that this experience was traumatic and that if we needed to talk to anyone to come and find a staff member. It was not really talked about after that and many of the other divers at the resort who were not on our boat had never heard that this event took place. I went diving again that day but did not do anymore diving after that as I was not feeling well and was just done.
I was very dismayed to see when I got back home to find an charge on my bill I didnt notice at the time of payment for an extra boat dive. This outfit only does 2 boat dives a day in which there was no extra dives to be done. I did do 2 more dives the day of the boat fire but was charged for a third so in essence, I paid for that experience and didnt even get a dive of out it. 17 Euros I paid for that and I find this just cheeky.
When the main group learned of the incident my friend who had initially raised concerns about the safety, spoke to the staff and told them this was what he had warned them about. As trip organizer I expected them to talk to me about this incident, however the only comment they had was, the fire wasnt started by cigarette and please ask your friend not to talk to us like this, because our boss already spoke to him, and he told us there would be no more problems Clearly the boss hadnt been interested in listening to our concerns only making sure we didnt ruffle feathers with the staff while he was away.
For the last two days we restricted ourselves to shore dives, and were surprised when the operator didnt think we should have concerns about using their boats! They eventually agreed not to charge us for the boats dives.
Many of the group have extensive diving experience throughout SEA and in particular Indonesia, (Bali, Lombok, Sulawesi, Kalimantan, Raja Ampat, Ambon etc etc), and found that the staff attitude that this is Indonesia, thats what its like, was unacceptable, as we havent experienced this kind of behavior, in either a European or an Asian managed resort.
This is a real shame, the region needs tourists to help support the rebuilding, and the diving is very very good, the house reef in particular has some outstanding sea life. But this operator is relying on the fact he is better than the next guy.
The compressor room had two compressors which could each fill 4 tanks at once. The intake to the compressors was inside the room, and the only way in was via a single doorway. About 3m in front of the door was a table and chairs where crew would relax, and smoke. With the volume of air being drawn in, this would certainly cause tobacco smoke to be drawn into the tanks
We mentioned this to dive crew who were rather blasé. Later, on the boats (this is mainly single tank diving and only 15-30mins to dive sites) the crew both boat and dive were smoking heavily. On our second dive, the passengers had not yet all returned to the boat, but some dive crew were already smoking on the boat, one next to my BCD. When this was commented on, the guy replied so you think you make the rules now? Both their boats used outboard engines and usually the crew would be sat around the engines / fuel tanks smoking. One of the boats (wooden) had a lot of water in the bilge which smelt heavily of fuel.
As the owners were leaving for a Europe the next day, one of the group, who has a back ground in HSE and importantly in gasses, spoke with the owner. At first he looked for an opportunity to discredit our background (how many dives, what certification level etc). Having failed to find a way to BS his way out of this he said. I dont have a safety problem, Im not going to change and if you dont like it you can go else where.
We decided to carry on, and take note of our own safety.
There also a general lack of space for equipment to be stored, and sand * was everywhere. Some BCDs had to be left on the floor or propped up against the wall and another quote from the owner was 'a good BCD should be able to withstand a little sand', while at the same time ensuring their rental equipment was up on pegs.
(*I have dived at many other remote dive areas where despite being on the beach, the dive shop wasnt covered in sand)
The dive guides were a mixture of European (what I would call part time vacation types) and local guys. The local guys were pretty good, but the European ones tended to do their own dives. Briefings were just that, brief, and without being given much guidance as too what to expect of the reef, we were asked what depth we want to go to?!?
No buddy checks were ever suggested, and there was no drill for lost buddy procedure, or a recall system back to the boat in case of emergency.
Despite the website stating Dive with fish not other divers', there was often up to 16 divers on a single boat and gearing up took forever due to the limited space. We are a fairly experienced group of divers who like to look at small stuff so are relatively slow along the reef , I can only assume this must have been boring to the guides so they repeatedly went off. On one dive the guides werent seen all dive, except in the distance where they appeared to be larking around by themselves. Repeatedly the guide assigned as sweeper to watch the back of the group, finished up at the front very quickly into the dive. So if someone did have a problem, there was no dive crew to follow up. On one difficult swim between pinnacles in current the dive guide pushed ahead, and when one of the group was in difficulty, didnt bother coming back. The next day the same person lost a fin in current. They were able to grab the fin, but needed help to be held in the current whilst replacing the fin, yet again, no dive guide to help, and I dont think they even know what happened, and just comment that this diver is not experienced!!!!
In addition to the in water behavior the crew would repeatedly surface before the divers and be back on board the dive boat before some people had even surfaced! During one dive when the guide was actuing as buddy to one of our group, the guide was missing all dive except at the end where she gave our member a safety stop sign, and was next seen already back on the boat.
There was some good diving on the other side of the island, but it is long ride over, and dive crew advised it is strong currents (even the dive guides who have never been there told us this???) This concerned some of our group and so, 2 people dropped out from this trip. As it happens there was only minor current there. I am kind of surprised that a dive operator who has been in the region for many years does not know what the currents will be like in any given area until the boat arrives; they should have a basic understanding of the tides!!!
One of the remaining divers elected to do a boat dive back near the resort on the wooden boat. This is first hand account of what happened while the main group was diving on the other side.
On the 6th day of diving, all of my troupe went off to dive the other side of the island. I didn't want to go due to being told there were strong currents expected so decided to stay on land and dive the regular from the shore boat schedule. We were on the wooden boat for this dive and on the last dive of the previous day the crew had trouble starting one of the engines. We started to head out to sea and the crew could only get one of the thee engines going. We were cruising slowly on one engine when one of the others came to life so could speed up some. It took about 10 minutes of cruising on 1 to 2 motors to get the 3rd one, the one in the middle going. During this time there were about 4 different crew working on this. I was standing in the middle of the boat looking towards the back talking to another diver just as we picked up full speed. At this time there were 3 crew at the back of the boat and suddenly, 2 fell off the back of either side into the water with us moving at full speed. I was confused as I thought they just fell off by accident but we werent slowing down or turning around to go back and get them. It was then that I saw flames jumping up from the back of the boat coming from the middle motor. I then realised that the 2 crew bailed off the boat but they did not yell or say anything to the rest of us about what was happening back there. The flames got bigger and bigger and were flaming to about the same height as me which is 510.
The first thing I looked at was the open clear plastic jerry container full of gasoline at the back of the boat very close to the fire. It was open with no lid on it and top hole was about 10 cms in diameter with gasoline sloshing around inside. It was then the 2 working motors were cut but we were still moving on the power of the one motor that was on fire as it probably could not be cut off due to it burning. By this time people were shouting and everyone became aware of what was happening. People were yelling to jump off the boat. Just jump. I think in the confusion and shock for most us, we just stood there for a few seconds before we realised what was really happening. People started to jump off the moving boat not taking anything with them. I do not know who was telling us to jump, probably the dive guides but I cannot be sure. I do know there were guides in the water before me.
I was wearing my booties and wetsuit up to the waist when I jumped at the same time a Welsh man on my right and Belgian girl on my left. If I can add up the weight of the 3 of us, it would total about 450 lbs jumping off one side all at the same time. When I hit the water I came up quickly and immediately looked around for the boat. To my horror, the back end of the boat had swung around (most likely from us all jumping at the same and no one jumping from the other side) and it with the burning motor and still active prop were coming straight for our heads. I tucked down and swam for my life. I was hindered greatly by my gaping wetsuit hanging at my waist. I am not sure if the Belgian girl beside me did not look up in time or just could not swim fast enough as she was attired the same as me but the prop of the engine caught her wetsuit and started the eat it up. She was caught in it and was being dragged by the back end of the burning boat while screaming for her life that she was caught, the prop was cutting her leg and for someone to help her. I started to swim for her but could hear others yelling to swim away from the boat and it didnt matter, I could never swim fast enough to catch a moving boat. I could see her being dragged away right at the base of the boat which was on fire. I was helpless to help her at all.
I swam to a group of other crew and divers (we were all over the place as there were approximately 16 to 20 staff and divers in the water) and watched while only one Indonesian crew member left on the abandoned boat run the open gasoline can to the front of the boat and go back to try to put out the fire while the Belgian girl was still being dragged and chopped up. During this time there were no one steering the moving boat and it was going around in circles and in all directions. The sole crew member left I saw throwing salt water onto the fire with a construction workers type of helmet over the flames.
During all of this with the boat wandering all over the place, fishing boats appeared to rescue all of us at various locations in the water. It was during this time that the Belgian girl somehow managed to get out of the wetsuit and free herself from the burning boat. The crew member on the boat could not help her as there was a fire between him and her and he could not shut the motor off. The boat that rescued the Belgian girl headed straight back to the dive resort as she had gashes on the inside of her right thigh and her foot was cut up requiring stitches.
The fishing boats that rescued us took us back to our boat as the fire was now extinguished. We got on our disabled boat and one of the fishing boats tugged us back to the resort. The crew member that stayed on the boat sustained burns to his left shin and toes and had 2 large open gashed on the shin of his right leg. He was obviously in pain. Please see attached photo of him and burnt 2nd motor, he deserves a medal for being so brave and staying on the boat to save it and all of our gear. He definitely risked his life on that day.
When we got back to shore, we were told that this experience was traumatic and that if we needed to talk to anyone to come and find a staff member. It was not really talked about after that and many of the other divers at the resort who were not on our boat had never heard that this event took place. I went diving again that day but did not do anymore diving after that as I was not feeling well and was just done.
I was very dismayed to see when I got back home to find an charge on my bill I didnt notice at the time of payment for an extra boat dive. This outfit only does 2 boat dives a day in which there was no extra dives to be done. I did do 2 more dives the day of the boat fire but was charged for a third so in essence, I paid for that experience and didnt even get a dive of out it. 17 Euros I paid for that and I find this just cheeky.
When the main group learned of the incident my friend who had initially raised concerns about the safety, spoke to the staff and told them this was what he had warned them about. As trip organizer I expected them to talk to me about this incident, however the only comment they had was, the fire wasnt started by cigarette and please ask your friend not to talk to us like this, because our boss already spoke to him, and he told us there would be no more problems Clearly the boss hadnt been interested in listening to our concerns only making sure we didnt ruffle feathers with the staff while he was away.
For the last two days we restricted ourselves to shore dives, and were surprised when the operator didnt think we should have concerns about using their boats! They eventually agreed not to charge us for the boats dives.
Many of the group have extensive diving experience throughout SEA and in particular Indonesia, (Bali, Lombok, Sulawesi, Kalimantan, Raja Ampat, Ambon etc etc), and found that the staff attitude that this is Indonesia, thats what its like, was unacceptable, as we havent experienced this kind of behavior, in either a European or an Asian managed resort.
This is a real shame, the region needs tourists to help support the rebuilding, and the diving is very very good, the house reef in particular has some outstanding sea life. But this operator is relying on the fact he is better than the next guy.
