“Surviving the Abyss: One American’s Terrifying Cruise Experience That Changed Everything”

Ever had one too many drinks and found yourself teetering on the edge of a wild decision? Well, let me introduce you to Nick Naydev—the poster child for hindsight being 20/20! After a night of revelry aboard the Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas, this daring American decided that why not jump off the 11th deck into shark-infested waters? Sounds like a scene straight out of a bad reality show, right? While most of us might opt for a cold shower to shake off the effects of a few cocktails, Nick took his plunge to a whole new level—literally and metaphorically. Spoiler alert: he got banned by the cruise line and lived to tell the tale. Buckle up, because his story goes beyond just a reckless jump; it’s about the kind of decisions that leave you questioning your choices the next morning! LEARN MORE

A man banned by Royal Caribbean has opened up on his reckless decision to jump off a cruise ship‘s 11th deck after a night of drinking.

We’ve all made bad decisions after a few beers, but American man Nick Naydev took things to the next level when he launched himself from around 100ft into shark-infested waters. Anything to avoid texting that ex, I suppose.

A cold water plunge can certainly work to sober you up and shake off any hangover, but it might ever-so-slightly be safer to do so in your local pool rather than from the top decks of a cruise ship off the coast of the Bahamas.

But Nick, seemingly egged on by his close friends and the idea of going viral, decided that while Royal Caribbean’s largest ship, Symphony of the Seas, was docked in Nassau, he would jump into the water below.

We’ve all seen movie stars jumping from helicopters or rockets into the ocean and coming up safely but the reality is that hitting water from a great height can be similar to hitting concrete, due to the immense force of impact caused by the sudden deceleration when you hit the water at high speed.

Nick Naydev jumped 100ft into shark infested waters (Inside Edition)

And Nick was very lucky to avoid death, let alone serious injury, after his drunken dive. He opened up about his decision, and regrets, in an interview with Inside Edition back in 2019.

He said: “I remember hitting the water, impact was pretty big ’cause it was pretty high up. It impacted my tailbone and my neck pretty hard, luckily it wasn’t anything serious.

“Nothing was really going through my mind. I’m like, ‘I gotta do this,’ and just two seconds later, I just jumped and didn’t really think it through.

“The previous night we were drinking quite a bit so I was still feeling the effects of the alcohol.

“I hope I don’t inspire anybody to do this because it is very dangerous, I mean they’ll think this is a joke.”

WARNING: Explicit language

In his Instagram comments at the time, he added: “What they told me shocked me. They told me that nobody dare swim in that water where I jumped because […] it was infested with sharks.

“So I was pretty lucky to be alive.”

Unsurprisingly, Royal Caribbean weren’t too impressed with Nick’s actions and promptly told him that he and his friends wouldn’t be welcomed back on to any of their cruises, just in case they were planning another dodgy dive in Dominica. Perhaps he was put off cruises anyway.

A Royal Caribbean spokesperson said at the time: “This was stupid and reckless behaviour, and he and his companions have been banned from ever sailing with us again. We are exploring legal action.”

Please DO NOT try this at home.