Hawaii's Most Dangerous Beach

May 01, 2008 10:30 PM

According to a recent study, a Big Island beach that's responsible for more spinal cord injuries than any other beach in the state. The beach we're talking about is Hapuna Beach State Park. It's a huge draw for tourists on the Big Island, but even a day that seems relatively benign can lead to injury. At more than half-a-mile long and greater than 200 feet wide Hapuna is the Big Island's largest white sand beach.

That, along with the fact that sunny skies prevail for much of the year, make it the most popular beach on the island, but it has another distinction. According to statistics from the Queens Medical Center it's home to more spinal cord injuries than any other beach in the state.

"Would you believe me if I told you this beach had the most spinal cord injuries, more than any other across the state?"

"No I wouldn't."

"Why's that?"

"It doesn't look very dangerous out there. I've thought about it a couple of times but it doesn't look too bad."

"I wouldn't believe it. Seems pretty safe to me. I had a great time. I went and snorkled a little bit. I went in the water, didn't have a problem at all. It was very fun," said Donna Posch.

"Just about any day of the year lifeguards can see the conditions that would lead to injury. But during the winter time the set-up is a lot more common."

Part of the problem is that the waves don't have to be that big for the day to turn dangerous.

"The classic day where we suspect we'll see spine injuries will be a two to three foot day, we're talking face values. Strong off-shore wind conditions with a shallow sand bar," said Captain Chris Stelfox.

Bill Abraham, a.k.a. "Black", has worked at Hapuna for 14 years. Every Winter he watches the waves deposit the Sand Bar offshore.

"It causes the waves to come in a break shallower. It'll break top to bottom. What I mean by to top to bottom: from the top of the wave to the bottom it dumps straight up and down. It doesn't slope and break from the top it just breaks from top to bottom," said Bill Abraham.

Which means you can get thrown head first onto the tightly packed sand. Between 200 and 2006 Queens logged 11 spinal cord injuries at Hapuna which has more than 616,000 visitors each year. Doesn't sound like much? Waikiki placed second in sea spine injuries with 8 in that same six-year stretch but 10 times the number of people visit annually.

"Those are only the statistics that are going through Queen's Medical Emergency Center. That doesn't include people treated here on the Big Island," said Capt. Chris Stelfox

That's why Black and his colleagues focus on prevention. On a dangerous day they'll increase the amount of lifeguards from four to six, and just last year they engaged in 15,000 preventative actions warning the most at-risk group: out-of-shape male tourists aged 40 to 50. Now they're working with airlines and the hotels to get the word out via brochures. Lifeguards also encourage people to visit the ocean safety website to get an update on current conditions before finding them out when they get to the beach.

Related Link:

http://www.HawaiiBeachSafety.org