Holidays and Big Wave Surfing (continued)
our beach and rescue and drowning numbers will go down. If not, they’ll likely remain at their current challenging pace. Adding to the complexity of this statistical overview is that with this Issue of Kauai Family Magazine, winter north and northwest swells will now be rolling in. Even if it isn’t proven that more Kauai drownings take place during these winter months, still yet these conditions add to the overall anxiety that us ocean safety advocates feel. One adverse event that does increase during winter months is people being swept off ocean-side rock ledges, such as Queens Bath. This hazard is caused by the fact that swells can come in as much as 20 minutes apart, and during the lulls unsuspecting people sometimes venture onto these ledges, to look at turtles or
for whatever reason. As for beaches themselves: Most beachgoers have the common sense to see that waves are crashing onto the beach and therefore they don’t venture into the water. The key to your safety as always is to go to a Lifeguarded beach and ask the Lifeguards what they recommend. There are days where they’ll say “Don’t go in the water here today. If you want to go in the water you need to drive an hour to the South/West beaches.” So much for numbers. Now let’s talk about people and let’s start with Kauai Junior Lifeguards, Kauai was the only County that carried out a program this summer. Our program had, by design, half the number of participants from pre-covid years. The lucky participants by all accounts had a terrific experience, and already
LIFEGUARDED BEACHES Haena Beach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Northshore, Haena
Kealia Beach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eastside, Kapa`a
Hanalei Pavillion . . . . . . . . . . Northshore, Hanalei
Lydgate Beach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eastside, Wailua
Hanalei Bay Pine Trees . . . . . Northshore, Hanalei
Poipu Beach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Southshore, Poipu
Kee Beach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Northshore, Haena
Salt Pond Beach . . . . . . . . . Westside, Hanapepe
Anahola Beach . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eastside, Anahola
Kekaha Beach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Westside, Kekaha
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