Last November, a scuba diver swam some 9 miles to shore after becoming stranded from his boat off the coast of Western Australia in what one rescuer hailed an amazing tale of survival , according to a news story in The Guardian.

The diver couldn't find his boat after surfacing in the Indian Ocean waters after a dive on the African Reef off the Geraldton, Western Australia, coast.

A broken anchor cast the boat adrift, leaving the 46-year-old diver alone in the water for eight hours.

He had been diving with another man, who was able to find the boat when he resurfaced.

Read a PADI Incident Report on a Runaway Dive Boat

According to the Guardian story, the diver who managed to find the pair's boat notified authorities about his stranded dive buddy, and the local marine rescue team immediately launched a search to find the missing diver.

By this time, darkness and rough seas made finding the stranded diver nearly impossible.

In the early hours of the morning – around the time rescuers were heading back to refuel with plans to resume the search at first light – the diver spotted torch lights as his desperate family members scoured the shoreline. He used them to swim his way back to land.

Officials say the divers’ boat was too small for the conditions, had no operating radio and lacked personal locator beacons.

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