“The day started perfectly.”
Diving instructor Matthew LaFrance had just finished taking a client on two successful morning dives near Apo Island in the Philippines. The day was clear and the dives were scenic, so LaFrance decided to venture out for one more dip.
The Ontario-born man is an experienced diver – he works as an instructor and tour guide for a diving company in the area – but nothing could have prepared him a night in the Philippines Sea.
LaFrance said the third trip started normally, like any other tour he’s guided in the past.
“We had told the boat crew, ‘Hey we’re doing this dive, we’re going to drift it out, so look for us out there. Make sure you come and get us,’” he said.
“We sort of drifted along. It was a nice dive, we saw some turtles.”
LaFrance said they started their dive at around 1:00 p.m. but, after realizing how strongly the current was moving, they resurfaced about 45 minutes later.
“We were moving along at a pretty good pace so I sent up my signal marker, which is an inflatable tube (shaped) like a sausage that you can send up from the deep,” he said. “I sent it up early because I knew we were moving fast.”
Once they were above water, LaFrance noticed that their dive boat was further away than he anticipated and that it didn’t seem to be facing in their direction.
“The boat was looking for us, but they weren’t looking in the right spot,” LaFrance said. “We had moved so fast with the current that they couldn’t see us anymore.”
The strong currents continued to push the divers further away from their boat. LaFrance blamed a recent celestial event, the ‘Super Blue Blood Moon,’ for the fast-moving waters.
He estimated that the currents had pushed them more than two kilometres away in just under an hour.
“There was a crazy moon just the other day. The moon creates the tide and the tides create the currents, so we were moving pretty fast,” he said.
“At this point, we’re two guys floating in the middle of the ocean.”
LaFrance said they could see the boat searching for them from where they were. Later, he found out that fellow divers were sent into the water to search for their missing members.
He said the crew had assumed “the worst” about them and sent in a search team, believing that some sort of accident had occurred underwater.
Floating somewhere between Apo Island and Negros Oriental – which are approximately 68.4 kilometres apart – LaFrance said their survival instincts started to kick in. The divers then decided to tether themselves together, to keep them from getting separated.
“And then the sun went down,” he said. “And when the sun goes down and you’re in a situation like that… it’s a crazy, crazy feeling.”
The divers swam for several hours in the dark, fighting exhaustion, cramping, dehydration, cold and physical and mental fatigue.
That’s when LaFrance started to assume the worst for himself, too.
“The worst part was when there’d be thoughts of my kids,” he said.
But when the unmistakable sound of an engine from an approaching cargo vessel broke through the quiet night, LaFrance and his partner started to make all the noise they could.
“He started yelling, I started yelling. I started fumbling for my whistle, just trying to make whatever noise we could,” he said.
Initially, the boat sailed right past the desperate stranded swimmers. LaFrance said he felt himself give up, but the other man continued shouting for help.
“When that spotlight found us and stayed on us… We were like, ‘Holy sh--, they found us,’” LaFrance said.
“I have never felt that level of adrenaline in my life.”
After drifting more than 24 kilometres over nine hours at sea, the two men were hauled onto the vessel by its crew and brought back to the Apo Island area. Once they were checked out and cleared by medical officials, they were able to reunite with their families.
The operators of their dive boat are being questioned by local authorities in connection with the ordeal but LaFrance is adamant that the crew did all they could to try and find them.
“I know for sure they looked for us. I know for sure they contacted the coast guard,” he said, choking back tears. “These guys are my friends. They were devastated. They went into the water looking for us.”
But will LaFrance be back in the water anytime soon? He tells CTV News Toronto that he plans on staying on dry land “for now.”
“I’ve been hugging my kids and my wife and my family,” he said. “I think they’re pretty tired of me hugging them so much.”
