- A couple is suing a tour company that they say abandoned them in the open ocean while snorkeling.
- Another passenger told the Coast Guard she alerted the crew that the pair was missing, the lawsuit said.
The crew on a snorkeling tour off the coast of Hawaii was told by a passenger that a couple was still in the water, but dismissed it and moved onto the next spot anyways, abandoning the couple, according to a lawsuit.
Elizabeth Webster and Alexander Burckle are suing the tour company, Sail Maui, over the incident, which they say occurred in September 2021 while they were in Maui on their honeymoon. The lawsuit alleges that the snorkeling tour departed from Lahaina for a snorkeling site near Lanai, a small island off the coast.
Sail Maui did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
After snorkeling in the water for a while, the water got more turbulent and the couple tried swimming back towards the boat, but it was already sailing away towards the next snorkeling location, the lawsuit says.
Jared A. Washkowitz, the couple's lawyer, told Insider the crew on the boat did two headcounts that each was two people short, but after a third got the right number they moved on.
But Washkowitz said a Coast Guard investigation into the incident discovered another passenger on the boat alerted the crew that two people were still in the water.
"One passenger later reported to the Coast Guard that when she returned to the Vessel, she reported to a crew member that Plaintiffs were still out in the water further out than where she had been, but the crew member assured her Plaintiffs were already accounted for," the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit also said other passengers told the Coast Guard that the first mate conducting the head counts "did not make people hold still or sit down during the head count, and that people were wandering around above and below deck."
The couple said they were left behind in the open ocean about a half mile from shore. They were starting to panic and struggling to stay afloat as the water got rougher, eventually deciding that their best chance for survival was to swim to the shore of Lanai.
"They spent a lot of time in the water. If they weren't young, healthy people, who were athletic, they probably would've drowned," Washkowitz said.
Once the pair made it to Lanai and came across other people who lent them a phone, they called the company. The lawsuit alleged that the crew on the snorkeling boat never realized on their own that the couple was missing.