Australian model Sarah Said-Smith shares horrific Bali boat ride experience
An Aussie model holidaying in Bali has shared her horror boat ride experience, describing it as the “worst four hours of my life”.
A Sydney-based model has detailed her horror boat ride experience in Indonesia, describing it as the “worst four hours of my life”.
Sarah Said-Smith, an Australian-Egyptian model, headed to Bali two weeks ago with her partner Jamie.
The pair had booked a ferry from the island of Gili Trawangan, near the coast of northwest Lombok Island, to Nusa Lembongan, a small island off the southeast coast of the main island of Bali.
However, instead of the smooth sailing she was hoping for, the boat ride ended up being a “disaster” with Sarah claiming the vessel almost capsized.
She said the ordeal began when the boat turned up almost six hours late.
“Jamie and I checked out of our hotel and headed to the port,” Sarah explained in a now-viral TikTok.
“The boat was an hour late at first and then it got pushed to three hours late and then we just never heard back about how long it was going to be.”
The pair decided to pop on their swimmers and go for a dip while they waited.
“We had a drink while the sun was setting on the hopes our boat will come, then five-and-a-half hours later we got told our boat was finally pulling up. Fantastic,” she said sarcastically.
“[But] it wasn’t fantastic and I really wish I hadn’t got on this boat because the next four hours was the worst time of my life.”
She then shared another clip detailing what happened next.
“We all got on at 5.30pm which was already horrendous, then we’re on this tiny a** f***ing boat at night time on the hugest waves I have ever been on, literally for four hours straight,” she said.
“It almost f***ing capsized. Everyone was in their life jackets, everyone was vomiting and freaking out.”
Sarah said the captain was switched twice and most staff were working their first shift.
“I don’t know how the f**k we did not just die on that boat,” she said while filming herself at what looked like a port.
“The boat also had no lights. It was pitch black the entire time.”
“I am drenched, absolutely drenched. Inside of the boat was flooding, the floor filled with water and everyone’s luggage was drenched.”
Sarah’s two TikToks have been viewed more than a million times, attracting hundreds of comments from tourists who claimed to have also had similar experiences.
“Took the same boat back five years ago. Literally thought we were going to die. Everyone put on life jackets,” one TikTok user wrote.
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“This also happened to us back in 2018. I was vomiting and drenched in sweat the whole ride. I thought we were going to die, the waves felt like concrete,” a second person said, while a third added: “Last time that happened to me in Bali when we finally got the boat over we got stuck in an earthquake on Gili – one of the worst experiences of my life.”
Sarah said Gili Trawangan, or Gili T, was actually her favourite destination on her Indonesian holiday, but in future she will instead make the trip from Lombok.
Meanwhile, Indonesia was rocked by a 5.5 magnitude earthquake on Monday that was widely felt in Lombok and even in Java, Madura and Sumbawa.
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