OnTriggerEnter works, OnTriggerExit doesn't

The player object has a gameobject with a small collider cube (set as trigger) at eye height. The following script is attached to that object:

     // Use this for initialization
     void OnTriggerEnter(Collider trigger ) {
         if (trigger.gameObject.tag == "flooder" && !playerStats.m_headUnderWater){            
             Debug.Log("head under water");
             playerStats.toggleUnderWater(true);
         }            
     }
 
      void OnTriggerExit(Collider trigger) {
          Debug.Log("LeftTrigger!!!");
          Debug.Log(trigger.gameObject.tag);
          Debug.Log(trigger);
          if (trigger.gameObject.tag == "flooder"){
              Debug.Log("head left water");
              playerStats.toggleUnderWater(false);
          }        
     }

This is supposed to detect if a players head is underwater to trigger drowning.

The on trigger enter works fine, but on trigger exit will never register (not even the debug statements)

The body of water has a kinematic rigid body and a mesh collider set (also with trigger = true) to make collision possible and they are both in a layer that detects collision with the other layer. Tried setting the rigid body collision detection to continuous but even that did nothing.

Any help is appreciated!