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An experienced Chinese diver who was left adrift at sea for 40 minutes in the Maldives is yet to receive an apology from the hotel that organised the outing. Xu Man is a certified diver with nine years of experience who became a qualified rescue diver in 2024. She recently embarked on a diving trip to the Maldives with her friend, Zhang Li. On September 1, they booked a diving package with Plumeria Diving and Watersports Centre, a highly recommended resort. However, what was meant to be a peaceful adventure quickly turned into a terrifying survival ordeal. Even before the dive began, warning signs emerged. According to international standards, each oxygen tank should be equipped with both a primary and a secondary regulator. However, Zhang Li’s tank had a broken primary regulator. Instead of replacing the equipment, the instructor merely instructed her to use the backup regulator and carried on with the dive. After the dive, as the group attempted to ascend, the instructor failed to deploy the surface marker buoy (SMB), a crucial safety device used to indicate a diver’s location to boats on the surface. Instead, he simply raised one hand and waved, hoping to catch the boat’s attention. “I looked around and realised the dive boat was several hundred metres away, possibly too far to see us,” said Xu. She added that she could feel a strong underwater current which was likely pushing them even further from the original dive site. When the instructor realised that waving was not working, he tried to deploy the SMB, but it was leaking air and failed to stay upright. Xu said that during this time, the waves grew stronger and repeatedly submerged her face. Physically exhausted, she struggled just to keep her head above the water. Eventually, the instructor accepted Xu’s suggestion that they tie the leaking SMB to a selfie stick she had brought and hold it high above the waves. Fortunately, a fishing boat spotted the selfie stick and rescued all three divers. Dive footage later revealed that Xu surfaced at 1.40pm and they were finally rescued at 2.16pm, meaning they had been drifting in the sea for nearly 40 minutes. “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,” Xu said. She reported the incident to the hotel manager and questioned the professionalism of the diving services. However, the hotel refused to apologise, only offering her a US$20 discount while still charging Zhang the full amount. Xu has since shared footage of the incident on Chinese social media and formally filed complaints with both the Maldivian tourism authorities and the Professional Association of Diving Instructors. “I have not received any updates yet. Many netizens left negative reviews on booking platforms, and the hotel was briefly delisted, but it has recently reappeared under a new name. “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,” said Xu. The incident, reported by Cover News, has ignited widespread discussion online. One person said: “Girl, you survived this. Blessings are surely coming your way. Go fight the hotel to the end.” While another added: “Genius move: using a selfie stick to save lives. That selfie stick deserves a medal.”
