A mum feared she and her sons would become shark food when the diving trip they were part of stranded them in the middle of the ocean.
Justine Clark and her boys Felix, 18, and Max, 20, were diving together off the coast of Fiji as part of a dream seven-day cruise of the South Pacific in August.
After spending 40 minutes below the waves, the trio - from Newcastle, Australia - resurfaced to find the dive boat that had brought them there was gone and there were no other ships on the horizon.
It later emerged that the rest of the group had decided to return to shore after the weather turned stormy.
Justine told MailOnline : "No tender boat was visible on surfacing, the swell was two metres, it was dark with grey clouds and high wind."
The divemaster - who was with the group of amateurs - told her this had never happened in his 27-year career.
Now bobbing along in shark-infested waters, the group tried to race to the nearest island - around 10 to 15 kilometers (six to nine miles) away.
Strong swimmer Justine said she was confident she could reach the island even if she had to drag her lads some of the journey.
But the distance was not her only concern.
"I can't impress how concerned I was for everyone's health [and about] sharks... I had to reach the island in a calm manner," she said.
Forty minutes into their swim, the group saw a boat heading their way, which turned out to be a rubbish-collecting boat picking up trash from the island.
When they were finally rescued, the skipper of Captain Cook Cruises had no way of explaining how the major error had happened but said safety procedures would be reviewed.
Justine said she doesn't want local tourism to suffer, but wants the firm to apply safety standards for trips outside of Australia.
The firm claims the boat was blown away from the dive site by inclement weather and the usual method of following bubbles that pop on the surface failed because of the stormy conditions.
A probe into the incident has lead to a rehaul of the company's safety procedures.
