Danish dive fatality - Bali

[DandyDon]

Second Foreign Diver Drowns Off Bali Beach | The Jakarta Globe

Denpasar. A 44-year-old Danish man drowned off of Crystal Bay beach on Bali’s Nusa Penida island on Tuesday, marking the second diving fatality there in the past three days.

Henrik Ent Jensen reportedly boarded a speed boat at 7.30 a.m. on Tuesday to dive in Crystal Bay — his body was found floating in the water at 10 a.m. It is not yet clear if Jensen was diving alone.

Bali’s Klungkung Police chief Adj. Comr. Nyoman Suparta said on Tuesday that the victim was taken to a nearby Puskesmas, or community health center.

“The victim’s remains have been evacuated to Sanglah Hospital in Denpasar for an autopsy,” Suparta added.

Jensen reportedly owned Celagi Pisang village in nearby Nusa Lembongan island.

On Sunday, Japanese tourist Ai Tanaka, 34, died while diving in the same location. His body was found floating 43 meters under water.

Suparta said Tanaka’s body had also been sent to Sanglah Hospital for an autopsy.

Suparta has not said what might have caused Jensen’s death, but added that Tanaka’s was probably caused by a strong underwater current that dragged him while he was diving.

“There remains the possibility of other causes, especially negligence of the [diving] operator,” Suparta said.

Suparta also said that police have suggested diving operators not take their clients to Crystal Bay for the time being.

 

[divewench1]

Can anyone confirm which dive centre he was with?

This is sad, sad news. Condolences to friends and family.

 

[vladimir]

Does anybody know whether the currents are particularly treacherous lately? I might head down there next week; maybe I'll lean towards Tulamben.

 

[Quero]

vlad, the full moon is in just a couple of days (Aug 31), and the currents, already treacherous at Crystal Bay, may become exacerbated around the full and new moon phases. The new moon will be Sept 16.

Having said that, you don't need to avoid Lembongan, just maybe Crystal Bay and Blue Corner. The molas can be seen at other sites as well, such as Toyapakeh, if that's what you're after.

 

[divewench1]

Crystal Bay waters closed after two deaths | The Jakarta Post

According to this article, Crystal Bay is now closed until further notice

 

[Quero]

And here's a newsreader version in Bahasa describing the two deaths:
detikNews : Turis WN Denmark Tewas Menyelam di Nusa Penida, Bali

The Dane was apparently diving from a traditional boat called King Fisher and not from a commercial dive operation. I guess on-site SBers like zivvya will be in a better position to report on the dive itself--whether Henrik was diving solo, whether the boat dropped him and then went back for a pickup, whether the boat dropped him and he planned to return to shore, etc. The news report says he began his dive at 7:30 a.m. and was found floating at 10:00 a.m. It seems that he's the owner of a villa called Villa Celagi Pisang on Lembongan.

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Oh, I see that the Jakarta Post article that divewench links to has given some details. So he was a tourist and was not alone.

 

[Hike]

I was quite concerned about diving CB in late september/early october after hearing two divers died there in the past three days. I have never actually dove CB, we were scheduled to do it one time, but the surface conditions prevented it. I was even more concerned when i heard that the second victim used to be a dive instructor in Bali, so he must have been more than competent with a long dive history that probably included many dives at CB (a popular dive site in Bali). I mean no disrespect to the families that lost their loved ones, but I am very concerned with both stories as they seem to have no details on what happened, but just say that one of the divers didnt surface. Why didnt their buddy realize they lost them until they surfaced. It sounds like the story is not giving all the details, but the fact that they have to do an autopsy to determine the cause of death really points to a poor dive plan. Especially in an area that usually has incredible visibility, that should make it even harder to lose your buddy.

 

[zivva]

I guess on-site SBers like zivvya will be in a better position to report on the dive itself

Was not diving CB yesterday but from what I've heard from different guides, conditions were ok with no strong current and the accident happened inside the bay, near the buoy line, which is the most protected area.

+ from what I've heard it may not be a dive accident but a cardiac arrest ...

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Especially in an area that usually has incredible visibility, that should make it even harder to lose your buddy.

It's precisely why accidents happen here on a regular basis : because of the incredible visibility lots of not-so-experienced divers are way too confident here.

But when strong current is heading your way here, if you're not close to the reef, you can just vanish in half a second ...

 

[Hike]

Was not diving CB yesterday but from what I've heard from different guides, conditions were ok with no strong current and the accident happened inside the bay, near the buoy line, which is the most protected area.

+ from what I've heard it may not be a dive accident but a cardiac arrest ...

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It's precisely why accidents happen here on a regular basis : because of the incredible visibility lots of not-so-experienced divers are way too confident here.

But when strong current is heading your way here, if you're not close to the reef, you can just vanish in half a second ...

I was referring to the fact that it was much easier to keep an eye on your buddy rather than diving in poor viz when you can barely see them a few feet away, but I agree completely with your comment and should have thought about that before typing.
We were planning to do a dive or two at CB at the end of the month and we purposefully did not count in our wifes to join us on this dive as they do not have that much experience or comfort in adverse conditions. While I have made less than 100 dives, I have done dives with great currents in many different directions and am also a conservative diver that listens to the DG (even if i dont agree) and weighs on the side of caution, so I still felt comfortable about diving here even through all the horrible stories i have read about.

 

[Yankee Mike]

I dived CB last Sunday and last Tuesday...the current Sunday was very strong and unpredictable.
i am used to some currents but also had my thoughts that diving there at that time with people not used to currents is realy looking for trouble...no Mola Mola is worth these deaths. RIP .