Bermudians Jim and Lolly Burnett-Herkes were forced to climb a rock face and hide in a jungle for hours after being caught on an island off the coast of Thailand when the Boxing Day tsunami struck.

The Hinson?s Island couple, on a yachting trip around the world, were snorkelling ina bay on the island of Tin Phi Phi Don, Thailand when the tsunami hit.

Early that morning they caught a taxi boat to the neighbouring island of Phi Phi Le to go snorkelling.

According to a website report, it was a beautiful day and at about 11 a.m. they entered the inlet of Maya Beach, location of the 2000 film ?The Beach? starring Leonardo DiCaprioTwo people have been reported killed in the bay.

The couple said in a website report that the inlet was steep-sided and almost enclosed and would have been delightful but for a the dozens of tour boats of all sizes that manoeuvred in the bay, dropping off swimmers and snorkellers.

The couples slipped into the water and almost immediately became aware of a strong current dragging them towards the sheer cliffs, which they said was unexpected, given the topography, but they put it down to the backwash from all the power boats.

Just a few minutes later the currents changed direction and increased alarmingly and they found themselves being swept further into the bay, totally out of control.

?The current reversed a couple of more times and we were dragged back and forth, frighteningly close to the cliff face, in water that had changed from crystal clear to muddy brown, until fortunately we all managed to struggle ashore in a tiny cove some distance from the main beach.?

They had no idea what was happening, except that at one moment the beach was many metres wide, with a few fish stranded on the sand and the next moment a heavy surge of water up to three or four metres high covered everything, and they were forced to retreat into the jungle behind the beach.

?As the surges increased in height, we clambered a few feet up the craggy rock face at the back of the cove. We were stranded in the cove, along with a French family, for a couple of hours as the water surged back and forth into the bay. There was a huge amount of debris in the water, including tree trunks that had been swept off the beach.?

Gradually, they say, the water became more stable and powerboats which had retreated to the open sea began to edge their way back into the bay to pick up the hundreds of people stranded on the main beach.

They said there was no sign of their taxi boat and it was far too dangerous for them to even think about swimming back to their boats.

Eventually a longtail boat approached the cove they were stranded in and they struggled out to it through still-swirling water.

They found their taxi-boat driver on board as his boat had been sunk along with two or three others.

?It was a sombre group that set off back to Phi Phi Don, through a sea that was littered with an amazing amount of flotsam, including two upturned kayaks and a couple of more wrecked longtail boats.?

They said they dreaded what they would find back at the anchorage and as they drew near they could see more yachts had put out to sea, including the where the Burnett-Herkes? had spent the night.

They were sailing around the world on with fellow sailors David and Claire Lewis, who own a house in Bermuda.

The Lewis?s had spent the morning at a hotel on the main island of Phuket.

Luckily, they said, they were on the second floor of the hotel when the tsunamis hit and only the ground floor of the hotel was severely damaged.was berthed at the Phuket Yacht Haven when the tsunamis hit and except for loosing its anchor and being battered about a bit, it was undamaged.

Dr. Burnett-Herkes is a retired Permanent Secretary of the Environment in Bermuda and his daughter, Susan Canas, said yesterday that the whole family was relieved to hear her parents were alright.

?When we woke up on Boxing Day my brother called from Ireland and told us what had happened. We hadn?t heard from my parents yet and turned on the TV to watch the news. It was terrible and we were so scared. They managed to call us later that morning from Thailand to say they were all right, shaken but all right,? she said.

She said her parents were in good spirits and had no idea how bad the devastation was, except that most of the coast in Phuket was destroyed.

?When we told them how many people were feared dead and how many other places were hit, they were shocked,? she said.

She added that her parents planned to complete their round-the-world trip, although she would have preferred to have them home right away.

?It?s the whole reversal of parent and child thing and I was just so worried. I really wanted them to just come home,? she said.

The next stop on their trip was Sri Lanka, but because of the devastation, they have to decide where to go instead.

Mrs. Canas said her parents had joined others on the ten-yacht rally in helping locals as much as they could.

?I?m still shaken. It was such a big shock to us, but we?re so relieved they?re OK.?

She added that the power was still out in Phuket and she couldn?t speak to her parents, but was hoping to hear from them before the end of the week.