Maui Guidebook causing problems
Oct 23rd, 2005, 01:45 PM
#1
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Maui Guidebook causing problems
Maui News is reporting a plan to close "the fishbowl" and other snorkeling spots because of the popularity of an unnamed guidebook. I wonder if it's blue?
http://www.mauinews.com/story.aspx?id=13568
http://www.mauinews.com/story.aspx?id=13568
Oct 23rd, 2005, 01:55 PM
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I returned from Kauai on 10-14. The day after we were in Hanalei and No Shore to check out snorkeling and found the surf to rough, a 55 year old man was washed out to sea and drowned while he was at Queen's Bath. I wondered at the time if he had read about it in the Blue Book. I don't know the details of the accident but I don't think a guide book can be blamed for people's inability to make good decisions. It is unfortunate that unspoiled areas are overun by people, but we all have the same desire to see those places. The thing that infuriates me are those people who are so disrespectful, walk on reefs, throw trash around, disturb other people and so on.
Oct 23rd, 2005, 02:35 PM
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There have been other discussions on this board of the very interesting issue of whose responsability and liability. I think they had to do with BI area (f I've read that the Blue Book is banned from sale at HVNP?) and crossing private land on Maui???
In any case, someone drowned. That's a tragedy, no matter the circumstances. It seems it happens, sadly, every season in Kauai, even in the "calmer" summer. It happened once when I was there in July, off a beach in Kapaa. I think conditions can change quickly in both the sky and surf there. Maybe it's part of a larger general discussion (such as happened around the tsumnami) of "adventure" travel and the risks people are willihg to take in its name.
In any case, someone drowned. That's a tragedy, no matter the circumstances. It seems it happens, sadly, every season in Kauai, even in the "calmer" summer. It happened once when I was there in July, off a beach in Kapaa. I think conditions can change quickly in both the sky and surf there. Maybe it's part of a larger general discussion (such as happened around the tsumnami) of "adventure" travel and the risks people are willihg to take in its name.
Oct 23rd, 2005, 03:23 PM
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Too bad they have to close it down, but better that than have the area slowly choked to death like so many of Hawaii's special places.
Mary,
Some friends of ours just got back about the time you did and they told us about the man drowning. Such a tragedy. We went walking there on a calm and fairly mild summer day and it was still fairly tricky. I can't imagine walking out there in heavy surf!
On this last trip we were at Ke'e about an hour before I got so disgusted with all the reef walkers and truly disrespectful, clueless people that I had to leave. The beach area was a lot dirtier and more crowded than I remember it being on previous trips. It was just too painful to watch and to be a part of.
Looking forward to that trip report of yours!
-Bill
Mary,
Some friends of ours just got back about the time you did and they told us about the man drowning. Such a tragedy. We went walking there on a calm and fairly mild summer day and it was still fairly tricky. I can't imagine walking out there in heavy surf!
On this last trip we were at Ke'e about an hour before I got so disgusted with all the reef walkers and truly disrespectful, clueless people that I had to leave. The beach area was a lot dirtier and more crowded than I remember it being on previous trips. It was just too painful to watch and to be a part of.
Looking forward to that trip report of yours!
-Bill
Oct 23rd, 2005, 06:14 PM
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Mary2Go: How right you are! While we were at the Nakalele Blowhole, a foolish boor persisted on slowly strutting his stuff at the edge of the lava, between the ocean and the blowhole! People warned him, but he seemed to enjoy shocking everyone by tempting fate in a taunting manner!
I hope the man who drowned was innocent of such antics, but you never know. If the guy we saw had suddenly been swept out to sea, we would be lamenting his death on this board as well!
Belle
I hope the man who drowned was innocent of such antics, but you never know. If the guy we saw had suddenly been swept out to sea, we would be lamenting his death on this board as well!
Belle
Oct 25th, 2005, 10:00 AM
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According to the report in the Garden Island, the man and his wife went to Queens Bath one day and there were other people there and the water was calm. They went back the next day and no one was there but the water looked calm. A swell came and the first wave knocked them down. They decide to wait for help on the rocks instead of climbing back up immediately. It was the second or third wave that swept him out. A horrible tradgedy and a scary thing is that 2 weeks from now the new visitors won't know about this and so the process will repeat. The blue book has warnings, but people will ignore them anyway. Perhaps there should be a memorial for those swept out to see at the trailhead down to Queens Bath.
Alan
Alan
Oct 25th, 2005, 11:22 AM
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Alan,
A similar thing happened at Lumahai Beach on Kaua'i a year ago last April. A couple who was climbing on the rocks by the cove were hit by a wave and knocked off in front of their child, who survived. The parents drowned.
There is a memorial/warning that locals made just before you get to the beach that is very touching and sad. We have been there only in the summer when the surf is supposedly mellow and I still wouldn't go up on those rocks. Just knowing that someone died there was enough to keep me off.
-Bill
A similar thing happened at Lumahai Beach on Kaua'i a year ago last April. A couple who was climbing on the rocks by the cove were hit by a wave and knocked off in front of their child, who survived. The parents drowned.
There is a memorial/warning that locals made just before you get to the beach that is very touching and sad. We have been there only in the summer when the surf is supposedly mellow and I still wouldn't go up on those rocks. Just knowing that someone died there was enough to keep me off.
-Bill
Oct 25th, 2005, 12:31 PM
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Sadly, another woman died yesterday morning on Oahu from waves:
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/ap...510250311/1001
One of the first things I was taught when I moved to Hawaii, was you NEVER turn your back on the ocean.
I (among many others) have been vocal about the "blue bibles". (Parts of them are great, parts of them are horrible.) But Alan, I have yet to find in my copies the warnings you mentioned. That's a big part of the problem. Could you point out the page numbers to me, please? Thanks.
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/ap...510250311/1001
One of the first things I was taught when I moved to Hawaii, was you NEVER turn your back on the ocean.
I (among many others) have been vocal about the "blue bibles". (Parts of them are great, parts of them are horrible.) But Alan, I have yet to find in my copies the warnings you mentioned. That's a big part of the problem. Could you point out the page numbers to me, please? Thanks.
Oct 25th, 2005, 05:35 PM
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I don't know the page number but I am sure it is in the section regarding "Dangers". I guess when you are reading up on a vacation in a tropical paradise you tend to remember the good and forget the bad. I have read some of their suggestions that sound like it's okay to ignore some of the no trespassing or private property signs, maybe that is not how it is worded but it is the impression I get, and I would never do that. I don't want to go where I am not wanted!
Oct 28th, 2005, 08:21 AM
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Kamahinaohoku,
I am afraid that my blue book isn't at home with me but on the island awaiting my return so I can't pinpoint the pages. I do remember reading a warning about Queens Bath, but I could be wrong and will take your word that it is not in your version. I agree that there needs to be stronger warnings for people at the hotel, on the plane, signs on the beach and in guide books. But I wonder if the travel industry would get a bit upset if the number of people killed by the ocean, helicopter tours, ect were well known.
Alan
I am afraid that my blue book isn't at home with me but on the island awaiting my return so I can't pinpoint the pages. I do remember reading a warning about Queens Bath, but I could be wrong and will take your word that it is not in your version. I agree that there needs to be stronger warnings for people at the hotel, on the plane, signs on the beach and in guide books. But I wonder if the travel industry would get a bit upset if the number of people killed by the ocean, helicopter tours, ect were well known.
Alan
Oct 28th, 2005, 09:30 AM
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Alanawar, if you look you will see warnings and red flags clearly posted all along our coasts, at parks, at streams, at beaches, etc. The problem does not lie in insufficient warnings being posted (just how many signs do we want plastered along our beaches?), but with the fact that so many people simply walk right past the red flags and head into the water. I have stood beside a row of signs warning people not to dive into the pools at `Ohe`o Gulch and watched a father make his 12 year-old daughter dive into an unknown pool for a photo op. (She was airlifted out)
Oct 28th, 2005, 12:30 PM
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Wow, poor kid. I had a similar thing happen at Kealia beach. It was almost dusk and there was only one other family on the beach, the mother on the sand the son in the water up to his neck looking frightened and his father taking pictures of him swimming. I just went in, grabbed the kid and brought him in. He wasn't in immediate danger so I'm not sure I did the right thing - I just reacted.
Jan 12th, 2006, 05:09 AM
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Kauai travelers beware
DO NOT TAKE YOUR CHILDREN TO QUEENS BATH!!!!
My daughter was swept away by a wave and nearly died! This is not a safe place. I am in Kauai right now and the first day we arrived we met my sister and her family there. While I was chatting with my sister my girls who are teenagers walked away toward the edge of the rocks. A wave came up and snatched her off the rocks and into the water. She survives thank you God, I was an aweful experience for her and my family. She was smart and managed to get out, but not many do as I have learned. I feel responsible for what happened because it was my idea to go there based on the blue book. Please, stay away! Stay away!
DO NOT TAKE YOUR CHILDREN TO QUEENS BATH!!!!
My daughter was swept away by a wave and nearly died! This is not a safe place. I am in Kauai right now and the first day we arrived we met my sister and her family there. While I was chatting with my sister my girls who are teenagers walked away toward the edge of the rocks. A wave came up and snatched her off the rocks and into the water. She survives thank you God, I was an aweful experience for her and my family. She was smart and managed to get out, but not many do as I have learned. I feel responsible for what happened because it was my idea to go there based on the blue book. Please, stay away! Stay away!
Jan 31st, 2006, 12:20 PM
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I have seen a father tell his little boy to stand next to a buffalo for a photo; little kids, unwatched, at the edge of the cliffs in Grand Canyon NP; parents ignoring red flags and letting kids boogie board on Maui; and parents leading inexperienced kids down black double-diamond ski runs in Colorado; these are just a few that stand out in my memory. If you don't care about your own safety, at least care about the children!!
