Australian mum and sons surface from scuba dive to find boat vanished

A mum and her sons went for a scuba dive in Fiji only to surface and find their boat had vanished leaving them in the middle of the sea.

Justine Clark with her sons Felix and Max before their Fiji dive. (Picture Justin Clark).

A mum has spoken of the terrifying experience of being left stranded in the ocean with her two sons after they went scuba diving.

Justine Clark, from Newcastle, said a tender, which was supposed to pick them up, vanished when they resurfaced from a dive in the waters off Fiji last month.

“No tender boat was visible on surfacing, the swell was two metres, and it was dark with grey clouds and high wind,” Ms Clark told the ABC.

She and her two sons Felix, 18, and Max, 20, had gone on the scuba dive on August 14 while on holiday.

Justine Clark with her sons Felix and Max before their Fiji dive. (Picture Justin Clark).

As well as the Clarks, the dive party included a tourist from the UK and a divemaster.

The company they booked with was subcontracted by Captain Cook Cruises Fiji.

The weather deteriorated as the group headed towards the dive site off Mana Island, northwest of Fiji’s main island.

Nonetheless, the dive took place, taking around 40 minutes.

But when Ms Clark and her sons surfaced, the boat they had travelled on was nowhere to be seen.

“(The divemaster) was shocked and stated this had never happened in his 27 years of diving,” Ms Clark said.

The group eventually decided to swim for an island they could see in the distance.

“I can’t impress how concerned I was for everyone’s health, sharks and the sense of determination I had to reach the island in a calm manner,” Ms Clark said.

The tender the Clarks were on that then disappeared . (Picture: Justine Clark)

By sheer luck a boat collecting rubbish from the ocean spotted the group swimming and sailed over.

“We were all smiles and I was blowing a kiss to the Fijian who saved us.”

The commotion led to the tender that was supposed to collect them sailing over as well.

“(The captain) apologised and told me he was so scared and he had radioed the captain that he lost us,” Ms Clark told the ABC.

In a statement to the broadcaster, Captain Cook Cruises Fiji said the tender had blown away from the dive area and the weather conditions had meant tracking where the group was had become essentially impossible

The situation was “unprecedented” said the firm and a review was under way.