Skip to main content

Lost Apple Watch survives hours at sea and is returned to its owner thanks to Find My

Earlier this month, we shared the story of a student who recovered his iPhone days after dropping it into a lake. This time, something similar happened to Jefferson Rocha, who lost his Apple Watch at sea in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, during a schooner trip. Luckily, he was able to recover his Apple Watch thanks to the Find My feature.

Man lost his Apple Watch in the sea and recovers it days later

As reported by G1, Rocha decided to go for a swim during a tour in Búzios when he lost his Apple Watch. According to him, the watch detached itself from his wrist while underwater. “My watch fell into the water, came off my wrist and I just lost hope,” he said.

Rocha tried to get his Apple Watch back, but it seemed impossible. So he returned to the schooner and surprisingly, he was still able to track it at sea through the Find My app. “This watch has GPS, it’s water-resistant. But I didn’t know it was so resistant.” Eventually, the Apple Watch died, and the man thought he would never see his smartwatch again.

The next day, Rocha received a notification from the Find My app showing that the Apple Watch had been turned on. He enabled Lost Mode and entered some of his personal information so that anyone who found the watch could contact him. To his surprise, a 16-year-old girl sent him a message on Instagram saying that she had found the Apple Watch.

“The daughter of the man who found the Apple Watch texted me and asked if I was in Búzios, that they had found the watch, and her father wanted to return it,” said Rocha. The watch was found by Benoni Antônio Filho, a 50-year-old diver who takes care of a coral park and always collects lost items to return them to their owners.

Lost Apple Watch survives hours at sea and is returned to his owner thanks to Find My
Jefferson Rocha’s Apple Watch in Lost Mode

Filho told the report that he had no hope that the Apple Watch was still working. However, since his daughter also has an Apple Watch, he put it on the charger and waited. The Apple Watch turned on and showed the Find My app message. “I asked my daughter to handle the return process so that she could learn about being honest,” the diver mentioned.

The Apple Watch was safely returned to Rocha, who was surprised not only that the Apple Watch survived the sea but also by the honesty of the people who found it and returned it.

How deep can an Apple Watch stay underwater?

Since Apple Watch Series 2, every Apple Watch model is fully water-resistant. According to Apple, the device has been tested to withstand up to 50 meters underwater. For Apple Watch Ultra, the resistance level increases to 100 meters deep.

However, one thing to keep in mind is that Apple doesn’t cover water damage, even though you can use the Apple Watch to track activities like swimming and diving. You can find more details about the water resistance of the Apple Watch on Apple’s website.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Comments

Author

Avatar for Filipe Espósito Filipe Espósito

Filipe Espósito is a Brazilian tech Journalist who started covering Apple news on iHelp BR with some exclusive scoops — including the reveal of the new Apple Watch Series 5 models in titanium and ceramic. He joined 9to5Mac to share even more tech news around the world.

Manage push notifications

notification icon
We would like to show you notifications for the latest news and updates.
notification icon
You are subscribed to notifications
notification icon
We would like to show you notifications for the latest news and updates.
notification icon
You are subscribed to notifications