It was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime but a Hawkesbury mum and her brother left the idyllic Great Barrier Reef without their dad.
The family is claiming their father would still be alive if the tour company didn't take them into unsafe waters.
Adrian Meyer visited the tropics with his children to snorkel the reef for his 71st birthday.
READ MORE: Convicted terrorists could lose Aussie citizenship under new laws
"I've never seen him beam so much in my entire life, he was just so excited," son Nick Meyer said.
"Being an avid environmentalist and a lover of nature, this was going to be our ultimate trip together."
On Monday the family joined a tour with Reef Experience which departed from Cairns.
When they reached their second stop at Norman Reef and got into the water, they claim it was clear something was wrong and the water was not safe.
"I've never really seen any conditions like this," Nick said.
"They were absolutely horrific, it was such a strong current. There were so many people that were just getting swept out 300-400 metres probably at this point."
Adrian's daughter Angela Henson said the one and only lifeboat capsized.
"It just literally went down like the Titanic," she said.
"There were just people screaming everywhere and we were in the water for so long, it just felt like forever."
Amid the chaos, Nick and Angela spotted their father back on the deck, receiving CPR from a crew member but he couldn't be saved.
"The trauma really is that we lost our dad, we almost drowned ourselves and then the first people on the boat when we got to the marina were the lawyers," Angela said.
"He said 'is this your dad?' and I said 'are you joking? absolutely this is my dad, who are you?' and he said 'I'm a lawyer, I'm representing the business'."
Nick and Angela have now engaged lawyers too.
"I don't appreciate when claims have been made by the company that he had a medical episode when he did not," Angela claimed.
"We have got the autopsy and he did not have a medical episode".
Adrian's family claims the tour company was negligent.
The company did not respond to a request to comment from 9News.
"What I'd like to do is see justice for my dad," Nick said.
The family would also like to see change to spare other families the same incomprehensible pain.
"Stricter procedures (and) protocols in place so that the waters are tested," Angela said.
"Whether the waters are safe for people to get in because they clearly were not.
"There was nothing safe about those waters that day."
