Before returning home I thought I'd share with everyone the events of yesterday in brief.

We decided to take the opportunity to dive the Blue Hole with Amigos Del Mar and of course the few amazing dives that go with the trip. All started well and the blue hole complete with large numbers of sharks had all 18 divers on the trip elated. On to our next location on the wall and again an amazing dive. Lunch and some sight seeing on the beach and it was time to head off for our final dive. The weather was great...the dive conditions good. Cameras full of great pictures and video, everyone in great spirits.

What happened next is embedded in memory for many years to come.

At around 1:15 pm we were briefed on the final dive of the day and we settled down for the short trip to the next dive site. At about 1:25pm the crew were saying the oil pressure on one of the diesels had suddendly dropped, 30 seconds later there a huge bang from below decks in the engine compartment and a few trails of grey smoke started to rise from the hatch. The crew shut down both engines and one of them dropped anchor as soon as he could. The smoke continued to increase making it difficult to breath so everyone moved to the dive platform. However the boat was rotating on the anchor in the wind/current and within seconds the smoke covered the stern of the boat, everyone now moved to the bow. Several of us including the crew were still trying to find the cause at this point...only a minuit or 2 had passed. It was soon eveident the engine compartment was ablaze and the smoke went from grey to a thick black smoke making breathing in the boat impossible. Flames then started to burst out of the hatchway and it was evident that there was no way to contain this...time to get the hell out of here. My buddy and I moved back to the stern down the outside of the boat and started to try to unload jackets and cylinders (which were all ready for the next dive) into the water. However the fire was now so great that it was impossible to get any equipment that was not in the last 4 or 5 rear most storage slots. As people moved to the rear dive platform they grabbed what they could and jumped off the boat. The crew grabbed armfuls of life preservers and threw them into the water for people with no means of floatation. My wife was unable to lift her rig as the flames had now reached the platform making it to hot for her. With nothing but her swimsuit she had to jump...she's is not a strong swimmer so had grabbed the life ring, one of the crew also passed down a jacket and cylinder to her before jumping himself.
(My wife has named the ring Wilson as per Tom Hanks in Casterways where he named a ball Wilson...lol)

As you will see from the photographs I took as we tried to get as far away from the boat as possible the boat was ablaze.

We were about a mile off land... luckily... and fishing boats plus another dive boat came as close as they dare to pick up those in the water. The wind / current and of course no fins made getting clear of the boat very difficult. A quick head count confirmed all divers and crew were safe in the water and we were transported to a dock on a private island where a resort is presently under preperation for high season.

Once on the island the crew managed to call back to their office and 2 boats were dispatched from San Pedro. With the weather now cooling and many people with nothing but swimwear or lycra suits at the the most we sat and waited for our boats home. At around 4pm, 2 boats arrived and we loaded what dive equipment we had left. The boats were open top and very soon everyone was chilled and tired...not a fun return trip.

After being dropped off at the hotel we recieved a brief "thankyou for diving with Amigo Del Mar. No apologies and no request to return next day for instructions regarding insurance etc etc.

In my estimate each dive couple lost around $3000 US in dive equipment, camaras, personal belongings, cash and even their hotels room keys where we will be billed $50 US for the pleasure of having our keys a molton blob on the reefs.

As of today we don't know if a police report has been made etc but suspect not. For insurance purposes I believe this has to be done.
Any advise in this particular area is welcome.

This brief report has missed out on many other details as I can only report from my perspective. We are now left with a lot of questions that will be raised later.

We will all be converging on Amiga Del Mar today so hopefully componsation or police reports can be arranged for insurance purposes. I'll let you know what happens.