Kauai emergency room doctor talks about dangerous spots on Kauai and challenges the unsafe advice provided in some popular guidebooks.

http://www.kauaiworld.com/articles/2...ews/news04.txt

The article has changed on that page. The hazards article is no longer there.

You're right! Here's the new URL. I hope this one stays the same for awhile.

http://www.kauaiworld.com/articles/2...ews/news05.txt

http://www.kauaiworld.com/articles/2...ews/news05.txt

It’s a shame we only hear when someone actually drowns or if someone else saves another. Actually, there are calls weekly from dispatch, usually a swimmer getting caught in a tide and taken out. Fortunately, they are saved so they don’t make print. There used to be more drowned victims per year awhile back I think, but there’s more public awareness now, so the numbers are not that high. Anyway, one victim at any one time is bad enough.

Swimming at unguarded beaches like these is a problem for a number of reasons. There is no one there whose job it is to rescue swimmers. But even before that it also means there is no one to help swimmers "read" the ocean before deciding to go in (or not).