Holidaymaker Nicola Raybone became trapped in sinking sand and drowned at Jolly Beach, the day before her father’s wedding
St. John’s Antigua- A British holidaymaker found dead on an Antiguan beach in January drowned after becoming trapped in sinking sand, an inquest heard.
Mother-of-two Nicola Raybone was visiting the island along with friends and relatives for her father’s wedding being held the next day at the Jolly Beach resort.
It is thought that the 33-year-old, from Lancashire, England, wandered onto the beach to watch the sunset when she ran into difficulty within hours of arriving on vacation.
She remained trapped in the sinking sand as the tide came in and enveloped her, the inquest – which recorded a verdict of accidental death – was told on Thursday.
A search party found her sandals and cell phone left at a bar.
Coroner Anne Hind was told at the Blackpool, UK, hearing that Nicola’s screams for help could be heard but nightfall fell suddenly and it was too dark to see her.
When she was eventually discovered an hour after her family and hotel staff launched a hunt, the nursery nurse was already dead.
The inquest heard that the tide that night was “very rough and high”.
“It was easy to sink deep into the sand. The beach sloped and it became pitch black,” Mrs Hind said.
“You can imagine how frightened she was. Having arrived on holiday everyone was happy about the forthcoming marriage.
“She just took a stroll along the beach and got into difficulties in very deep sand….quicksand. It is frightening how quickly it all happened.”
A statement from Ms Raybone’s family described relatives as “shocked and devastated”.
Among the holiday party were Ms Raybone’s children, Amy, 11, and 13-year-old Dylan.
Deaths after becoming trapped in sand in Antigua are extremely rare.
A statement from Jolly Beach resort said staff and management were still “deeply saddened” by Ms Raybone’s death.
“Despite this tragic accident, the public beach our resort shares with other hotels is one of the safest in Antigua, and no report of quicksand has ever been recorded,” it continued.
“Both the examination conducted by Antigua’s government pathologist Dr Lester Simon and the results of the private inquest conducted by Mrs Hind concluded a verdict of accidental death due to drowning.
“Ms Raybone, along with her family and friends, will continue to be in our thoughts and prayers,” the statement added.
If reports are correct, should the Jolly Beach not be warning people about the dangers of quicksand around the hotel?
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I’m a born Antiguan who grew up in Falmouth, the beach being second nature. For over 30 plus years I’ve heard of sinkholes (suckholes) at Pigeon Point. However, not until Friday August 3rd did I witness this phenomena. The weather condition had broken down due to the storm that was brewing in the Windward Islands. The water was rough and the tide high – the roughest that I’ve personally ever seen Pigeon point. It was raining at the same time. However, as we’d driven out with the children for what we thought would be a day of sun, sea and sand, we decided to let them enjoy themselves in the rain and at the shoreline. After some time, I noticed that as the water went back out the sand swirled and swirled. I pointed this out to the elderly lady with us and she nodded in affirmation that it was indeed a suckhole. I called out to the children to move away from that area. In about half an hour, at least 4 spots had open up along the shore line, however what I noticed about the first one was that you could no longer see the sand in the swirl but just the water funnelling, it had gotten wider. I then cautioned a gentleman who’s children were in the water to take note and he called them out of the water. For those who knows the beach well, when the tide came in it did so up to the coconut trees.
The world, the earth, is changing, it’s global, Antigua is not an exception. As someone who takes to the beach as often as I can, there’s been remarkable change along Antigua’s coastline. Those who take to the beach should not be fearful but be ever watchful. If the waters were rough on the night of Ms Raybone’s drowning, then yes it’s possible that she got caught in suckhole right at the shoreline.
Condolences and continued prayers for her family and children.
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This is very, very sad.I worked at Jolly Beach for sometime and never heard of such a thing.My condolences to her entire family especially her two children. I just cannot imagine how they felt not having their mom go back home with them.
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Who wrote this article? Mr D you need to proof read your reporters work, this is so untrue, quicksand in Antigua? Can you imagine quicksand on our shoreline. Who this this inquest?
“Nicola’s screams for help could be heard but nightfall fell suddenly and it was too dark to see her.” seems as if we had an eclipse
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I am very sorry a young woman has died while swimming at jolly beach. My condolences to her family. I must say that the write up about quicksand and tides are totally ridicules.
I grew up in Antigua and my family ran a hotel on the beach……never has anything like this happened in Antigua . I also worked as water sports manager at Jolly Beach Resort for over seven years…….some crazy things happen on the beach , but this would be like E T cruising up on to the beach in his spaceship and getting out for a drink at happy hour ……just don’t happen !!!
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Reporter and Editor of the Observer:
How can you, being a local Antiguan, print such trash about tides and quicksand on the island. Why not print a honest article disputing the British nonsense rather than copy-cat to sell a paper, that would make far better reading. I’m very disappointed in your ethics…
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“Nicola’s screams for help could be heard but nightfall fell suddenly and it was too dark to see her.”
Pure rubbish reporting. I totally agree with the other statements above.
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DISGUSTED: Would you believe it has only taken those ‘people’ at Jolly Beach over six months to issue any sort of message of sympathy to the family of Nicola Raybone. What sort of people manage Jolly Beach? Heartless and unfeeling to say the very least.
Absolutely disgusted. Will never come back to your island ever again. The comments supporting this hotel are not appreciated at all.
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This is completely false. Antigua for one, has an extremely small tide. So small you would not notice it. The tide wouldn’t get deeper than maybe a foot, meaning it wouldn’t travel up the beach more than a couple feet. Absolutely false information. Then “quicksand”? QUICKSAND? That doesn’t even exist. Look it up. Quicksand deaths are rare in Antigua, so rare than never EVER has anyone ever experienced here. For an island that relies on tourism this is an extremely frustrating ignorant article by a reporter who clearly doesn’t have a clue. I am sorry to say but alcohol, and yes possibly a rough ocean was the cause of this unfortunate death.
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My heart goes out to her family. It is a tragedy.
But this is by far the worst and most inaccurate news article I have ever read.
Shame on you Observer Media!!
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I’ve lived on Jolly Beach since 1999, been in the water hundreds, if not thousands of times. I’ve never felt, seen or heard of any quicksand in Jolly Harbour. In fact, I’ve only ever seen quicksand in cartoons! Exactly how could an inquest conclude quicksand? What is the evidence? If quicksand was the cause would they not have found her trapped in the alleged quicksand? This does not add up.
Very sorry to hear someone tragically died, but I think blaming it on quicksand with no evidence is the same as blaming it on the boogeyman.
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