I know I'm going to get a roar of no's from the Hawaii lovers and advertisers out there. But I just want an honest opinion on this. Has there been any sightings? Anything the resorts do to protect swimmers?

Thanks...

Yes, there are sharks in Hawaiian Waters- more so during certain times of the year than others. I don't know what times of the year, but try typing in "hawaii lifeguards" in a search engine..its bound to spit something out useful.

I only know that the Ihilani Resort nets off their lagoons from the ocean to keep out large fish and sharks ... I highly doubt that there are any other resorts that have their own lagoons here on Oahu.

Hope this helps

Yes, there are some shark attacks reported every now and then. In the last six months, I've heard of a teenage boy and a woman being badly hurt. Read it in Maui online newspaper articles. But it's very rare. And more common in certain areas. (Sorry I have to confirm your fears!)

Weigh the risks: you're 100 times more likely to simply drown while swimming in Hawaiian waters than to be attacked by a shark. And you're 100 times more likely to be hurt in a car crash driving to the beach. Of course, your name won't be in the newspapers, but you're just as dead or injured.

Travel, by its very nature, entails risks. If the EXTREMELY slim possibility of a shark attack would defer you from visiting one of the most beautiful places on this planet, then I recommend you not travel anywhere -- just driving one mile in a car entails more risk of injury than swimming in Hawaiian waters.

I dived on Kauai at Sheraton Caverns in 1990 and the highlight was the sharks that we saw there. Going back this year and hope to again see the sharks. We kept our distance. They are truly beautiful creatures.

Paul Rabe wrote:

"[...]just driving one mile in a car entails more risk of injury than swimming in Hawaiian waters"

Could you cite a source for that?

I caught a few minutes of a show about sharks in Hawaii on the Travel Channel last night. You may want to check to see if it is going to be shown again. Apparently, there are Tiger Shark problems in some places. I do remember hearing about a Tiger Shark killing a swimmer a few years ago off of Maui. When I was at Polihale St. Park beach on Kauai a dozen years ago, I saw signs warning of sharks. I used to be very interested in sharks, so I have read quite a bit on them. Tigers are very large and quite deadly. It seems that there are a number of people in Hawaii going out after the sharks to try to thin the population by killing them. One guy on the show came back hauling two 15-footers on his boat. Of course what you are doing can contribute to any danger that exists; for example surfing in shark-infested areas or swimming far off shore - one surfer told of three attacks at one beach, including a fatality. I wouldn't worry too much about it, as shark attacks are very rare. Still, I would try to find out about the area of the island you are swimming, so that you will know whether sharks have been recently sighted. I certainly wouldn't swim where Tigers have recently been sighted, no matter how slim the chances of an attack. Just find another beach. If you want current information, you might want to try Web sites for Hawaii media and the U.S. Navy.