Family believes dad who went missing in Bali could be surviving Bear Grylls-style

The family of a man who was swept out to sea while snorkelling in Bali believe he’s still alive — and are hanging on to a wild theory.

The son of a missing Brit who was swept out to sea while snorkelling in Bali believes his dad is alive and could be using survival techniques to survive.

Adam Smith’s dad Graham, 68, went missing eight days ago while swimming in the Blue Lagoon on a holiday of a lifetime with his partner Dianne, The Sun reports.

Thanks to his love of survivalist shows such as Bear Grylls, the family believes Graham could be surviving in the wilderness after being washed up on a nearby coastline.

Having previously worked as a handyman, an engineer, and a lumberjack, Adam, 30, told The Sun his ‘adventurous’ dad has all the skills he needs to cope in the surrounding jungle.

Adam fears that his dad could have been washed onto the shoreline with dense jungle and is either injured or lost and struggling to find help.

He said: “He’s a very adventurous man. He’s quite stubborn as well. So he would know he could do this.

“He’s always watching stuff like Naked and Afraid and Bear Grylls type stuff. Completely involved in them.

“There’s a hell of a lot of land here, some really populated and very touristy and then there’s a lot of jungle and coast. So if he got swept out for a few hours I’m sure he could have gone very far.

“So that’s obviously that’s our hope. That’s a potential situation.

“But if he is somewhere, there are prickly pears everywhere, it rains every day for about an hour without fail, the waters are really warm, and the temperatures not burning hot at all.

“So if he’s just sat on a beach or rock somewhere, it’s definitely for him, or potentially he’s just stuck somewhere.

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Graham Smith is described as being “very fit” for a 68-year-old. Picture: Justgiving

“Some have described him as elderly but that is something we definitely wouldn’t describe him as. He looked quite young and is definitely very fit.”

A search and rescue operation was launched after Adam’s mum, Dianne, failed to spot Graham in the crystal-clear lagoon for 20 minutes at around 5.30pm on September 28.

The pair have been together for 36 years and were celebrating their retirement on the trip of a lifetime when tragedy struck.

A local at the Beach resort in the Karangasem Regency swam out to locate grandad but was unable to find him.

A search party was sent out at 10.25pm, according to the co-ordinator of the Karangasem Search and Rescue Team, Gusti Ngurah Eka Widnyana.

Since then his anxious family, from South East London, have joined the search with three of his six sons now on the Indonesian island, alongside Dianne.

Adam said: “My mum is not massive about going in the sea, she normally decides to relax to just watch my dad out in the sea.

“He went out to snorkel which he normally does every single year when they go away. It was getting a little bit darker. He’d been out for a little while and came in once.

“They were due to go out into the mountains on Saturday, and he does love to snorkel so he’s he wanted to go out one more time.

“Mum said he looked like he was getting further out and then she couldn’t see him. So she jumped up and tried to get help.

“A local went and got a life vest and swam out to see where he was, I think he was out there for a little bit and was looking around going under.”

Adam Smith pictured with his dad and family before he vanished over a week ago. Picture: Justgiving

A six-man search and rescue team was sent to the area but failed to find the retired Brit.

Bali authorities have now been helping the family search for the last week but said despite their best efforts they would no longer be able to commit to the search after a seven-day period.

However, they have now agreed to extend the search for a further three days – giving the family a glimmer of hope.

Adam and his siblings are trying to raise funds for a private search that will include a helicopter and a term of experts to search any forest areas.

The siblings have also mapped out an area of sea, seven by two nautical miles, that they planned to search via chopper.

Adam said: “They said from the beginning, they legally only search for seven days. That’s just protocol.

“And then they said they would extend it by three days, which made us more hopeful.

“The official search, the government search, ends tomorrow at 6pm. They’ve been really open and supportive, and we’ve been able to use some of their systems.”

When asked if he still believed his dad was alive, Adam added: “In my heart, I feel like it is still a very good possibility.

“You have to look at the other side, and start looking at all the options in your mind. So you don’t just completely live in false hope.

“But looking at the environment, looking at the sort of continued support by the government and the possibilities that could happen. I do believe he still could be out there.

“That’s why we are really pushing because we don’t want to look back and have any regrets if he gets found in a spot that we didn’t search because we didn’t have that helicopter.

“Because we didn’t have that extra manpower or we needed that extra half a day. Push that little bit further and spread the word a little bit more.”

Local officials have since encouraged snorkellers to be mindful of the ever-changing weather conditions in Bali.

This article was originally published by The Sun and reproduced with permission