Snorkel fins?
Jun 16th, 2012, 06:43 AM
#3
We used to travel with our snorkel bags as our carry-on (with a swimsuit and towel tossed in) - but often times rented fins at the beach rather than lugging them. That's an option. I hated using rental goggles/snorkels though.
Jun 16th, 2012, 07:00 AM
#4
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Love my mask, so I don't want to replace it until necessary, but the fins? Not so much; plus they are flopping at the toes.
Wondered if anyone had some minis or 1/2 ones they love that are comfortable and easy to put on? (and you don't have to wear socks with?)
Wondered if anyone had some minis or 1/2 ones they love that are comfortable and easy to put on? (and you don't have to wear socks with?)
Jun 16th, 2012, 11:57 PM
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Know exactly what you mean about the old - huge dive fins - and also - having to wear booties? with them.
Now we use much shorter fins, and I even have a pair specifically for body surfing, which I call my "duckies".
And as others are doing - we are not lugging the separate dive bag anymore - especially now that one has to pay extra for luggage. Geesh - we used to take everything except the weight belts.
See what the rental shops suggest and also as noted - try a pair and if you don't like them - exchange for a different style/type.
Now we use much shorter fins, and I even have a pair specifically for body surfing, which I call my "duckies".
And as others are doing - we are not lugging the separate dive bag anymore - especially now that one has to pay extra for luggage. Geesh - we used to take everything except the weight belts.
See what the rental shops suggest and also as noted - try a pair and if you don't like them - exchange for a different style/type.
Jun 18th, 2012, 03:30 AM
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Just posted this on another thread about Kauai - and I think it also applies here:
At the risk of receiving a "flood" of responses - I did some checking and please do double check these "facts" - but it appears Kauai currently receives over a million visitors a year - and averages about 10 drownings per year. That's currently - and this is an older table for 1970 to 1999. http://www.teok.com/Drownings/drownmap.html
California by contrast has some 4,000 drownings a year, including about 400 from boating related mishaps.
And while this older chart (again - for the 30 years from 1970 to 1999 on Kauai) - averages a little over six drownings per year during this timeframe - you can see where they have occurred with the most frequency.
Now you don't want to be one of those stats - but the number is quite low compared to all the people who visit.
Again, check on the local conditions before you head the beach/water, and if the surf is kicking up - don't go in.
Some years ago - after a beautiful hike of two miles from Ke'e beach - I stood close to shore in the water in Hanakapiai - which had some nice waves breaking further out - and could feel the pull on my calves - and had heard that it had some strong undertow - so I didn't go in to body surf.
I was looking/checking up and down the beach and there were some places were you could come back in - but you would have had to climb some rocks to get out, plus some locals say the next landfall would be Australia.
At the risk of receiving a "flood" of responses - I did some checking and please do double check these "facts" - but it appears Kauai currently receives over a million visitors a year - and averages about 10 drownings per year. That's currently - and this is an older table for 1970 to 1999. http://www.teok.com/Drownings/drownmap.html
California by contrast has some 4,000 drownings a year, including about 400 from boating related mishaps.
And while this older chart (again - for the 30 years from 1970 to 1999 on Kauai) - averages a little over six drownings per year during this timeframe - you can see where they have occurred with the most frequency.
Now you don't want to be one of those stats - but the number is quite low compared to all the people who visit.
Again, check on the local conditions before you head the beach/water, and if the surf is kicking up - don't go in.
Some years ago - after a beautiful hike of two miles from Ke'e beach - I stood close to shore in the water in Hanakapiai - which had some nice waves breaking further out - and could feel the pull on my calves - and had heard that it had some strong undertow - so I didn't go in to body surf.
I was looking/checking up and down the beach and there were some places were you could come back in - but you would have had to climb some rocks to get out, plus some locals say the next landfall would be Australia.
Jun 18th, 2012, 08:26 AM
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sylvia3: Sorry - I thought that was more positive - as the stats are very very very low (way under even a tenth of a perent - remember - that chart was for about 30 years)
- that you will get in trouble and you can take them even further down by just using common sense, checking the local conditions and wearing fins.
If it's flat - other than places known for some undertow - such as Lumahai sometimes (I haven't really felt it there but it's always good to be aware) - or going at the mouth of a river (see the Wailua River - where you can get pushed further out becauwe of the fresh water flowing into the ocean) - I think most of the beaaces are quite safe.
In fact - snorkeling at Lydegate park has a barrier and even a lifeguard - but again, if the surf is breaking over the barriers - it's pretty big and you need to be careful.
Again, suggest you wear fins - and ideally - have someone with you, and if you are being pulled seaward My wife jokes that since she was in a swim team - she might have to come in and pull me out when I go body surfing in fairly good sized stuff.
- that you will get in trouble and you can take them even further down by just using common sense, checking the local conditions and wearing fins.
If it's flat - other than places known for some undertow - such as Lumahai sometimes (I haven't really felt it there but it's always good to be aware) - or going at the mouth of a river (see the Wailua River - where you can get pushed further out becauwe of the fresh water flowing into the ocean) - I think most of the beaaces are quite safe.
In fact - snorkeling at Lydegate park has a barrier and even a lifeguard - but again, if the surf is breaking over the barriers - it's pretty big and you need to be careful.
Again, suggest you wear fins - and ideally - have someone with you, and if you are being pulled seaward My wife jokes that since she was in a swim team - she might have to come in and pull me out when I go body surfing in fairly good sized stuff.
Jun 18th, 2012, 08:28 AM
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Ahh - somehow the one before posted early.
Anyhow - if somehow - by longshot - you are being tugged out to sea - DON'T PANIC - and try to swim directly against the current and fight it and wear yourself out.
Swim left or right - down the beach - and come back in where you see the waves breaking - and ride them in even as far as you can.
Anyhow - if somehow - by longshot - you are being tugged out to sea - DON'T PANIC - and try to swim directly against the current and fight it and wear yourself out.
Swim left or right - down the beach - and come back in where you see the waves breaking - and ride them in even as far as you can.
Jun 18th, 2012, 10:06 AM
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Maybe you should start a thread, Tom?
Cover the main points really quickly (including the coral touching thing), perhaps with a special note to parents to instruct kids NEVER turn their back on the waves. Lots of newbies come here for info, and perhaps a 5 or 10 point bulletin would help them.
I think Hawaii in particular can be viewed by some as more of a park than a beautiful natural environment that can be deadly for the unprepared or unaware.
That's not me, of course!
Cover the main points really quickly (including the coral touching thing), perhaps with a special note to parents to instruct kids NEVER turn their back on the waves. Lots of newbies come here for info, and perhaps a 5 or 10 point bulletin would help them.
I think Hawaii in particular can be viewed by some as more of a park than a beautiful natural environment that can be deadly for the unprepared or unaware.
That's not me, of course!
Jun 18th, 2012, 10:54 AM
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Yes ocean safety tips by. . .
It will be like glass
Most all of the island beaches will be flat as a pancake
If it is choppy, just put on some fins and you will be fine
If it is choppy grab a piece of coral with your bare hand and you will be fine.
4000 people die of drowning in CA, so what's the big deal about a dozen deaths in Kauai?
Because he has been called out by me and others, he has now become the new safety hall monitor of the Hawaii board. And yet he still posts bad advice.
It will be like glass
Most all of the island beaches will be flat as a pancake
If it is choppy, just put on some fins and you will be fine
If it is choppy grab a piece of coral with your bare hand and you will be fine.
4000 people die of drowning in CA, so what's the big deal about a dozen deaths in Kauai?
Because he has been called out by me and others, he has now become the new safety hall monitor of the Hawaii board. And yet he still posts bad advice.
Jun 18th, 2012, 12:24 PM
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First of all - lookg - those are not accurate quotes, and are also taken out of context.
Secondly - specifically what is the bad advice?
Surely I have not advised to go out in big surf as you did and wind up being rescued?
sylvia: Once more: The number of drownings in Hawaii is quite low when you consider all the people that go to the beach there - every day. Hawaii is a small community - and the word spreads - and yes, they also have some colorful descriptions - such as "Luma-die" for Lumahai - yet over the years - on average - there has been less than a drowning a year at Lumahai.
If you read the table - from 1970 to 1999 - almost 30 years - they reported 18 drownings at Lumahai - total.
http://www.teok.com/Drownings/drownmap.html
That is about one every other year. Now you can have a cluster or two or three any single year - but that was the average for 30 years, even though it might be a little higher currently with some 1.1 million visiting Kauai every year.
Nowadays - with ever heightened concern - due in no small part to the lucrative tourist dollar - you have much more coverage of such events/drownings - but again - those were the averages for "Luma-die".
My former boss - who was the Coast Guard Officer in charge of Kauai - after WWII - said even once in a while - a local can drown - but by and large - again - the number of such incidents is quite low - compared to the number of days a lot of people go to the beach.
And when it's calm - virtually nobody ever gets swept off the beach in Hawaii. There are places where rogue waves can hit - but you need some big surf for that (what you also usually need are some cross-currents) - or perhaps if you are standing out on a rock/reef offshore - a smaller wave could knock you down and you could wind up in the water and in a current - but again, in calm conditions - by the beach - you are usually quite safe.
Now - if you are by one of the few river mouths - there is a current going out to sea there - but that is usually for the bigger rivers - such as the Wailua and to a lesser degree - by the south end of Anini beach.
Just stay downbeach from any river mouth and you will be fine.
Secondly - specifically what is the bad advice?
Surely I have not advised to go out in big surf as you did and wind up being rescued?
sylvia: Once more: The number of drownings in Hawaii is quite low when you consider all the people that go to the beach there - every day. Hawaii is a small community - and the word spreads - and yes, they also have some colorful descriptions - such as "Luma-die" for Lumahai - yet over the years - on average - there has been less than a drowning a year at Lumahai.
If you read the table - from 1970 to 1999 - almost 30 years - they reported 18 drownings at Lumahai - total.
http://www.teok.com/Drownings/drownmap.html
That is about one every other year. Now you can have a cluster or two or three any single year - but that was the average for 30 years, even though it might be a little higher currently with some 1.1 million visiting Kauai every year.
Nowadays - with ever heightened concern - due in no small part to the lucrative tourist dollar - you have much more coverage of such events/drownings - but again - those were the averages for "Luma-die".
My former boss - who was the Coast Guard Officer in charge of Kauai - after WWII - said even once in a while - a local can drown - but by and large - again - the number of such incidents is quite low - compared to the number of days a lot of people go to the beach.
And when it's calm - virtually nobody ever gets swept off the beach in Hawaii. There are places where rogue waves can hit - but you need some big surf for that (what you also usually need are some cross-currents) - or perhaps if you are standing out on a rock/reef offshore - a smaller wave could knock you down and you could wind up in the water and in a current - but again, in calm conditions - by the beach - you are usually quite safe.
Now - if you are by one of the few river mouths - there is a current going out to sea there - but that is usually for the bigger rivers - such as the Wailua and to a lesser degree - by the south end of Anini beach.
Just stay downbeach from any river mouth and you will be fine.
Jun 18th, 2012, 12:51 PM
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"Just stay downbeach from any river mouth and you will be fine."
Not to be unappreciative, Tom, but were all these safety tips directed at me? Because I assure you, I did not need them; hence my gentle suggestion that you compile and post as a service to "newbies."
Shar, I also love my mask, my snorkel is ok (because the alternative is yuck) but the fins are 20 years old, heavy, breaking down, and difficult to get in and out of. So, I wondered if folks here had personal experience of those cute shorty and 1/2 fins I've seen!
Not to be unappreciative, Tom, but were all these safety tips directed at me? Because I assure you, I did not need them; hence my gentle suggestion that you compile and post as a service to "newbies."
Shar, I also love my mask, my snorkel is ok (because the alternative is yuck) but the fins are 20 years old, heavy, breaking down, and difficult to get in and out of. So, I wondered if folks here had personal experience of those cute shorty and 1/2 fins I've seen!
Jun 18th, 2012, 03:26 PM
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sylvia: Hope you read this from 22tango on one of the other/ Hawaii/Ocean conditions page, and hopefully this will answer your possible concerns about Tunnels.
Again, when we have been there, usually in the summer - it's been very calm and didn't notice any significant current - current and I was all around the reefs.
"Yes, there is a rip current at Tunnels, but it should be weak when you're there. Plus, the current generally flows in the direction of Haena Beach, which makes it less problematic. Still, I'd check with the lifeguard at Haena Beach, since you'll probably end up parking there anyway."
Again, when we have been there, usually in the summer - it's been very calm and didn't notice any significant current - current and I was all around the reefs.
"Yes, there is a rip current at Tunnels, but it should be weak when you're there. Plus, the current generally flows in the direction of Haena Beach, which makes it less problematic. Still, I'd check with the lifeguard at Haena Beach, since you'll probably end up parking there anyway."
