Feb 27, 2024
BEWARE!!! They Almost Killed Us... BOOK ELSEWHERE!!!! - Our tour occurred on December 10th, 2023. (2 couples, the captain and skipper) Prior to our tour even taking place on the 10th, we reached out to the boat company ownership team, (in writing), to express our concern over the weather report suggesting the trip could be compromised by weather, and rather or not we should be concerned. The boat owners responded, in the same chat thread, that we didn’t have anything to worry about.
Thus on December 10th, we departed mid-day for an afternoon sailing trip out of Cancun. We had lunch on Isla Mujeres and returned to the boat midafternoon. As the crew requested, when we first boarded in Cancun, they required us to remove our shoes and put them away in the boat somewhere (this is the last time we would see our shoes). We then cruised around a bit near Isla Mujeres and even swam in the ocean behind the boat. Then the nightmare began.
Sometime between 4:30 and 5:00 pm, the boat captain (Jonathan) and the skipper (Ambrosio) became concerned about a large wall of bad weather that appeared to be getting closer. The crew, however, would prove to have reacted far too late.
(A quick online search will dig up multiple articles of our rescue and even pictures of us as documented by ENSAR, unfortunately we are not allowed to link them on this site), Cold Front number 16 had arrived. A well-documented storm that they should have been aware of, especially after we alerted them to potential weather threats. The storm had recorded winds of 50 knots. More than half up the scale of a tropical storm. We were immediately given life jackets and told to brace ourselves in the bottom of the boat as it was about to get really bad. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that we were tossed side to side like a cork in a washing machine. It didn’t take long for my good friend to begin vomiting. This in turn began to trigger his wife, and then myself. As the storm became more and more violent, our wives, both of whom speak perfect Spanish, understood the conversations taking place between the captain and skipper. It was obvious now, they were scared. Though they attempted to navigate the storm, they couldn’t make any progress and feared if we didn’t receive help, we may parish in the storm.
This is when the captain and skipper decided to radio “Mayday! Mayday!” to whomever they could get on the emergency radio. This, however, proved futile. They could not reach anyone and even tried their back up, but that failed as well. In a moment of desperation, Ambrosio, told the four of us, that if we didn’t reach help, we may not survive the storm. He provided us a phone number that we should call by trying to use our cell phones. We could not reach anyone. My wife ALONE, has 96 LOGGED DISTRESS calls to this number, … all failed. During this time, my wife was VIOLENTLY ejected from her seat multiple times, landing on the floor, and once on a bracket. She couldn’t sleep on her right leg for a week as she had a badly bruised thigh.
It was at this moment, that my wife sent an “end of life” text message to her sister in Houston Tx. Letting her sister know that she loved her and wasn’t sure we would survive a storm we were in on our trip (all well documented if validation is ever requested by tripadvisor). By some MIRACLE…. my wife's sister received this text. And from her end, was able to connect back with my wife. Immediately discerning the gravity of this moment, my wife's sister, from Houston TX, called 911 in the US. This would prove to save our lives. They immediately connected her with the US Coast Guard, who in turn were able to directly reach out to the Mexican Naval Search, Rescue and Maritime Surveillance Station (ENSAR) of Isla Mujeres.
It was at this moment that sadly, the crew of the boat we chartered, due to negligence and lack of proper safety preparedness, nearly cost us our lives. Once in contact with ENSAR, the boat tried to communicate using the radio, only to be told they weren’t even on the correct channel (WOW!). Then, 1-2 hours into the ordeal, the crew was instructed to launch a flare. (ENSAR had boats and a helicopter in the area looking for us, and the sun had long been set. It was DARK, and the seas were violent) SADLY… the crew couldn’t not produce a flare, and said they didn’t have one! WOW!!! This is an INCREDIBLE SAFETY VIOLATION.
ENSAR was incredibly supportive however and said to please then use flash lights on the boat to signal in all directions in hopes of being spotted. AGAIN… SADLY… the crew could not produce a flash light and said they didn’t have them. The only solution at this point, was to use the small flash light on our cell phones. By a miracle, we were spotted.
ENSAR slammed into the vessel, in the heart of the storm. 2 Heroes from their vessel were able to board our boat to assist with the rescue. In this moment, they did their best to help us understand to time the separation of the boats as they were coming together so that we could leap to the rescue boat. My wife in a moment of adrenaline made a poorly timed jump, but THANKFULLY the heroes on the rescue boat snagged her and ripped her into the boat. Had she fallen, no doubt she would have been crushed. (one of the many easily searchable online articles shows a picture of us with blurred faces in the cabin of the rescue boat).
Once ALL 6 of us were rescued, the boat was ABANDONED TO THE SEA. They didn’t allow us to search for our belongings, or items we took with us, as we were simply in a “save our lives” rescue.
Of course we didn’t return to where this journey started (Cancun), we were taken back to Isla Mujeres. Here we felt like refugees that were nearly killed. Upon landing, they recorded our names, nationality and age, as we had been reported missing for that window of time. They gave each of us a clear plastic bag with a bottle of water, an apple and a granola bar. Then each of us, one by one, were checked for vitals in an ambulance.
PLEASE BE MINDFUL… that we have no shoes. We then had to walk BAREFOOT, all down the stormy boardwalk of Isla Mujeres to the ferry terminal, where after the storm had dissipated, later that night we were able to take a ferry (barefoot) back to Cancun. From there, we had to BUY OUR OWN CAB, just to get back to the marina where the harrowing journey began. Then…. Once back at the car, we sat in silence for about 15 minutes. Digesting what had happened. My good friend was terribly sick and so shaken at this point he asked me drive. Our wives were both so disturbed, all they could do was sit in the back seat and stare blankly into the night. I took a deep breath and drove us an hour south back to our hotel. WE ARE LUCKY TO BE ALIVE
…. Next Day ….
We spoke to the boat owners the next morning, they refunded us our charter, as we would find out later by TripAdvisor, this was all they were obligated to do, but when we asked about our belongings, they claimed they would locate them if the boat was found and return them to the hotel, which NEVER happened. They made one phone call to us later that day at 11 pm which is ridiculous as we were already asleep. We attempted to reach them multiple times the next day and they never answered. From this point on, they ghosted us. We have made multiple attempts to allow them to reimburse our losses to no avail. We lost all of our shoes among other items, and they simply don't care. Their lack of training, safety preparedness, and lack of empathy for our plight not only nearly killed us, and cost us many belongings, but ruined the rest of our trip.
I suggest to anyone that reads this far, that you do not support their company in any way moving forward. Their lack of attention to basic safety features could cost you your life, and I'm sincerely concerned someone under their management might be killed.
Review provided by Tripadvisor