Tourist left behind by snorkel boat on Great Barrier Reef

A tourist was left stranded in the waters of the Great Barrier Reef after his snorkelling group got back on the boat and left.

The 28-year-old American man described how he panicked when he surfaced from the water after snorkelling at Michaelmas Cay and found his boat had left.

Speaking in Australian newspaper The Cairns Post, he said: 'I lifted my head up and I saw the boat had gone - it had left me.'

'The adrenalin hit in and I had a moment of panic, which was the worst thing I could have done at that point.'

He was forced to swim to another vessel owned by the same company, whose employees radioed for his orignial boat, Passions of Paradise. to come back.

'I was able to calm myself just a little bit because there was another boat still out there and I made my way to that vessel,' he said.

"Lucky it was there because otherwise I may have drowned. I did not handle the situation well and I was tired.'

The staff member who failed to properly perform the headcount has reportedly been sacked, and the incident reported to Marine Safety Queensland and Workplace Health and Safety.

Mr Cole's money was refunded, and he was given a $200 restaurant voucher.

The case has chilling echoes of the tragedy of Tom and Eileen Lonergan, the American couple left behind after diving off Port Douglas. It took two days for the Lonergans to be reported missing and their bodies were never found. It's presumed they drowned or were taken by sharks.

The incident tightened the headcount regulations for reef tour operators, but these were clearly overlooked on the Passions of Paradise boat.

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