Harm clusters on current at points and crater backs, winter surf on the wrong shore, lava cuts, and boat props in bays. This is not medical advice.
A red flag and a closed Hanauma day are safety decisions.
Hazards
- Rip and current — Bays that look like pools.
- Winter swell on north and west shores — A surf hazard in snorkel water.
- Lava cuts and urchins — Entries.
- Boat props — Molokini, Waikiki, Kealakekua.
- Heat on the Ka'awaloa trail — Kealakekua by land.
- Manta-night scrums — Kicks to faces and animals.
Rules
- Flags and tickets — The day's law.
- Distance from turtles and mantas — DLNR and operator codes.
- No standing on coral — Hanauma's original sermon.
- Buddy or a beach watcher — Shore entries.
- Night: the operator's light rules — Or skip the night.
Red flags
- A full Hanauma parking lot and no reservation — Do not invent a side entrance.
- Whitecaps in a 'beginner' bay — Stay out.
- A manta operator who encourages touching — Walk.
- Blood from lava and a long swim left — Exit, clinic.
First response
- Signal the tower — The Hawaiian safety system on many beaches.
- Cuts — Clean water, then clinical care; coral and lava infect.
- Not medical advice — Stings and drowning are emergency-service problems.
Hawaii safety is a flag, a ticket and a lava step. The back wall can wait.