A certified Chinese diver had a harrowing survival episode during a diving excursion in the Maldives. Xu Man, who has been diving for nine years, was left stranded for 40 minutes after a local watersports resort forgot her in the open waters. According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the resort has refused to issue an apology. The SCMP reported that the incident unfolded on September 1 when Xu and her friend Zhang Li booked the diving experience with a resort with good reviews. However, the excursion began failing before it even started after Zhang’s oxygen tank's primary regulator was found to be broken. Instead of replacing it, the instructor advised her to use the backup regulator, which is a violation of international diving safety standards, the report said. The situation worsened during the dive as the instructor failed to deploy a surface marker buoy, a standard device used to alert boats to a diver’s location. Instead, he just waved his hand in the direction of the dive boat, which was stationed hundreds of metres away. The report added that strong currents soon swept the group far from the original dive site, and Xu found herself repeatedly submerged, struggling to stay afloat. “At that point, we had drifted so far that we could no longer see the dive boat or even nearby islands. Towards the end of the drift, I had a terrible feeling that we might die out there,” the SCMP quoted Xu as having said. Making a last attempt, Xu attached the signalling device to her selfie stick to make it more visible above the waterline, following which a nearby fishing boat spotted them and rescued the two, roughly 40 minutes after they had entered the water. After the incident came to light, the resort offered Xu just a $20 discount as compensation, while Zhang was charged full price for the dive. The report highlighted that the hotel refused to apologise. Xu has since filed official complaints with Maldivian tourism authorities and the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI), but there has been little to no progress. The hotel was temporarily removed from booking platforms, but has since reappeared under a new name, the report said. “What worries me most is that the hotel does not seem to understand the gravity of what happened. If they do not take this seriously, other tourists could face the same life-threatening risks,” Xu told SCMP.
