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Avoid this company at all costs. Notice how the Aqua Adventures website cherry picks by selecting nothing but glowing 5 star reviews?
On the morning of September 6, 2022 my sister-in-law, Cheryl Bergey and her husband Don Stacy boarded Aqua Adventure's Big Blue 1 looking forward to the possibility of swimming with humpback whales. Approximately 2 hours later, owner/operator, Leon du Plessis brought Cheryl's lifeless body back to the Gold Coast Water Police dock.
This excursion featured multiple deficiencies including: putting Cheryl into a wetsuit that was 18" too long in the legs, operating in rough water with wind speeds well above the 15 knot threshold stated in the Aqua Adventures website, failing to provide a spotter/outlook, and failing to require that swimmers wear PFDs to name a few. The reckless decision to engage the engines in forward towing the swimmers (2 of whom were seniors, aged 65 and 71) on a 'mermaid line' (rope encased in flotation material) through significant swells for approximately 400 meters, however proved fatal for Cheryl. She aspirated seawater and soon thereafter drowned.
Leon du Plessis neglected to mention anything about towing swimmers to the police. This we know from the autopsy. He later refused to be interviewed by WHSQ (Workplace Health & Safety Queensland). When WHSQ finally completed a lengthy report in the spring of 2023 they forwarded it to the OIR (Office of Industrial Relations) prosecutor to consider criminal charges. The coroner's office has yet to determine if and when an inquest will be ordered.
Husband, Don Stacy did not do well after Cheryl's death and passed away in October of 2023. His death ended the civil litigation. - via 