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An Australian tourist described a terrifying ferry ride between a popular Bali tourist spot and the mainland.
Ian Cragg and his girlfriend Natalie boarded a ferry that left Gili Trawangan island off the northwest coast of Lombok last Friday.
The Gold Coast tourists spent three nights on ‘Gili T’ and called the booking company in the morning to confirm their return trip to the port of Sanur, near Denpasar.
Ian Cragg with his partner, Natalie Bogdanski, the day before leaving for Gili T. Image: Supplied
Cragg described the scenes on the pier as chaos and said no one was in control of the operation. Image: Supplied
A friend of his had taken the same ferry the day before and said they had been “floating in the sea for an hour” with choppy waters making it impossible to keep moving without taking in water.
After being told that the first ferry of the day had been cancelled, he arrived at the port at 11 a.m., only to wait another three hours for the boat to arrive.
“It’s chaos and a lot of confusion on the pier, with no one taking control,” Cragg said, describing the hundreds of people who crowd the tiny pier.
‘An absolute shit show’.
He said that when the ship finally arrived, its passengers looked ‘haggard and pale’ and one Australian said as they disembarked: ‘that ship should never have left’.
But with no option to return to the mainland, Cragg boarded the ferry with 60 other passengers, many of whom were Australians.
“It was good at first, until we got to the main hallway, that’s when things really started to get difficult,” he said.
“This big wave hit the side of the boat and the windows were blown out, drenching the tourists.
The windows must have been plastic because luckily they weren’t smashed.
Cragg said people panicked and moved toward the back of the boat when two crew members ran to the window and began working hard to attach a piece of plywood to the window.
A crew member sealing a broken window with plywood. Image: Supplied
Hundreds of people were waiting to board the ferry back to the mainland. Image: Supplied
“I definitely felt in danger, but we were close enough to landing that I knew if the worst happened, hopefully help wouldn’t be too far away,” he said.
Cragg said that when they returned safely to the mainland, his taxi driver told him that “it happens all the time” during the rainy season.
“For most of the year the water is fine, but it gets worse between December and February during the rainy season,” Cragg said.
His comments come after multiple reports of wild boat rides to island destinations from Bali.
Earlier this week, shocking video surfaced of a speedboat capsizing off the coast of Nusa Penida while carrying 28 passengers to the same port Cragg was headed for.
Rough gray waves battered the Kebo Iwa Express ferry as several people wearing life jackets jumped into the water Tuesday afternoon.
Two Australian tourists were among those forced to jump into the water, two nautical miles offshore, ABC reported.
A boat capsized off the coast of Nusa Penida on Tuesday. Image: Supplied
One of the passengers said the waves quickly overwhelmed the boat, sinking it.
He said all the passengers were now safe and there were no casualties.
“If I was going to go again, I would just pay the money to fly to Lombok,” Cragg said.
He said he would “definitely go back” and even recommended visiting the island, which he said was “so beautiful.”
‘The locals were amazing and very accommodating; they were so happy to welcome tourists,” he said.
“They just need a better and safer ferry infrastructure between the islands.”
“I would say to avoid taking children on the ferries during times when bad weather is expected, keep in touch with your ferry provider before you leave, sit as close to an exit as possible, have a fully charged phone, and make sure you he is a confident swimmer…’