Narooma’s Montague Island Adventures loses a passenger overboard in heavy surf after rogue wave hits
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Watch the terrifying moment when the passenger is thrown into the ocean after the tour boat he was traveling on crashes into a huge wave and is blown up, while others are rushed to hospital.
- Tourist washed overboard after a large wave crashes into a boat in southern New South Wales
- The man was at the mercy of the raging ocean, but luckily he made his way to help.
- A bodyboarder carried the man to the rocks where ambulance crews were waiting.
A man is lucky to be alive after being swept overboard into a raging ocean when a huge wave engulfed a small tour boat, sending three people to hospital.
The ship, belonging to local tour company Montague Island Adventures, was battling the elements on its way out of Narooma Inlet on the south coast of New South Wales when the wave crashed into the vessel at around 11:25 a.m. a.m. on Wednesday.
The boat, which attempted to clear the breakwater wall in heavy swell, was launched higher and higher with each wave before attempting to crest one last huge one.
The final swell caused the boat to become almost vertical and blown away with all the tourists in orange life jackets desperately clinging to the boat.
However, a tourist on the open rear deck was unable to stay in the boat, and he dove from the rear and fell into the water despite another passenger lunging to grab him.
A man was washed overboard from a small tourist boat leaving the south coast of New South Wales on Wednesday.
Graham Martin, co-founder of HR software provider Worknice, was watching from shore and captured the near tragedy on video.
“It was all super crazy,” he told Daily Mail Australia.
“The waves were crashing over him and he was at the mercy of the currents.”
“He was lucky to drift north where a bodyboarder helped him up onto the rocks.”
Martin said the man was conscious but he couldn’t tell what condition he was in.
The ship, belonging to the Montague Island Adventures tour company, was nearly engulfed by the huge wave.
Emergency services quickly arrived on the scene and were there to treat the man, in his 50s, as well as other passengers on the boat who sustained injuries when thrown into the maelstrom.
Ambulance NSW told Daily Mail Australia that the man was injured in the chest area and was having trouble breathing, as well as being in shock.
The journey from Narooma Inlet on Wednesday morning was plagued with difficult conditions from the start.
He was transported to a local hospital in stable condition.
Two other passengers were taken to separate hospitals with suspected broken bones or fractures, while four others were treated for relatively minor injuries.
Graham Martin watched the drama unfold and said the 50-year-old man thrown overboard was lucky to survive.
The company that owns the boat, Montague Island Adventures, organizes tours to explore the protected nature reserve of Montague Island, which is located 9 km from the coast.
They also offer snorkeling with seals, whale watching, and fishing charters.
The company has been contacted for comment.
Fortunately, the man thrown overboard was able to stay afloat and got close enough to a bodyboarder to be rescued, while two other passengers also required hospital treatment.