California couple sues Hawaiian snorkeling company after being left at sea during honeymoon

A California couple is suing a tour company in Hawaii after they were left stranded in the ocean during a snorkeling tour on their honeymoon.

Alexander Burckle and Elizabeth Webster are suing the tour company for $5 million after they were abandoned by a snorkel charter operated by Sali Maui while vacationing in Hawaii in September 2021, according to court documents. 

The 44-person tour departed from Lahaina Harbor in Maui at 10 a.m. and was scheduled to return by 3 p.m. Passengers jumped into the ocean at around 11 a.m. and were told that they could snorkel there for about an hour before moving to the “second snorkel location of the day.”

The newlyweds claim that they were in the water for around one hour before conditions became “more turbulent with prevailing 2-4 foot waves” and decided to return to the boat. However, as they were swimming they realized that the boat was moving further away. 

As the couple began to chase the boat, they found themselves in deeper water among rougher tides. Eventually, they lost sight of the boat and land, according to court documents.   

"Plaintiffs were beginning to panic and were struggling to swim in the ocean conditions," the suit said. "They feared that drowning was imminent." 

They "decided that their only option for survival at that point was to return to shore," the documents said. However, they "were extremely fearful and nervous about the decision because they were told in the safety briefing explicitly not to swim to Lanai and that shallow reefs were in the area." 

The couple eventually made it to shore by 1 p.m. but “were fatigued and dehydrated,” the suit said. They wrote “HELP” and “SOS” on the sand but no boats were around to find the message. A truck eventually drove by and found the couple. 

The couple claims that the captain and crew of the tour did not mention a specific time to get back to the vessel and did not designate snorkeling boundaries. Additionally, they claim that they were not given instructions on what to do in the case of an emergency.