When lifeguards warn "stay away from the water", listen.

[waikikikichan]

With the big waves hitting Hawaii and California, people want to see surfers ride the big waves at Waimea and Mavericks. A lot of "them" don't know the ocean and venture too near. They don't understand tides, currents or even the power of mother Nature. Just as you should never turn your back on a kindergarten class, never turn your back to the ocean.

Fast forward to 2:09

In the comments it says, the guy filming is disabled and couldn't assist. But then it might have been 4 people that could've drowned.

[oldmansurfer]

These are people who are not familiar with the waves and surf. They are wandering around where it is quite obvious that waves have recently swept up in that whole area. They also probably cannot swim. They can barely walk. One gets swept away and the second goes after them and gets swept away then all three. I have read they survived it but it could have been different. Surprising they lived long enough to screw up this bad in their old age.

[oldmansurfer]

Maybe this is all part of the plan. As you get older you get senile making it more likely you will do something fatal and that way your kids or grandkids are free to live a more productive life........wait a minute......that would mean.......(quickly cancels plans to play Russian roulette)....Hey I don't have any kids to take care of me anyway

[Big H]

Lifeguards at Kuta beach are pretty good....they start to blow their whistles and get after people who they determine are playing with fire and are either going too far out or getting near a big rip....a good amount ignore them and worse, get mad at them.....the rips there on a given day are killers, though it doesn't look like it on the surface of things.

[billie_morini]

harrowing...

[oldmansurfer]

We have the same problem here on Kauai only complicated by some (locals) having the knowledge and skill to safely tease nature while others usually tourists think...that looks fun instead of that looks dangerous. One spot where people drown or if they live long enough require rescue is queens bath a big pool of water that becomes a boiling pot of foam with bigger waves. Most likely tourists who read some dumb Kauai guide book.....http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/31225021/2-rescued-after-swept-out-to-sea-at-queens-bath and then there is Lumahai beach and you can see these people navigate better than those old folks and rely on the wave to wash them in further then stand back up so they aren't swept out ...........except a couple people did get swept out and ti shows the rescue guys picking them up on a jet ski . Don't know but would suspect it was tourists who thought that looks fun

[oldmansurfer]

Just went and found the original report from the Lumahai beach incident and it was a Kauai resident who was watching the fun and got swept out. So even locals can get swept out sometimes

[billie_morini]

Ol' Man,
thanks a bunch for posting that video of Lumahai beach. That looks like a lot of fun on a hot day. Bet swimming trunks get filled with sand! Best not to have swimming trunks or bikinis.

California has a beach location where people frequently get swept away. It's in very northern California and called the Lost Coast. The sea there is very unpredictable and very strong. Every now there are stories in which even local school teachers lose a couple of kids at the Black Sands Beach. You'd think local people would know better, but they don't always.

It's called the Lost Coast because it is remote, there are no highways into/out of the area, and the high amount of depopulation in the 1930's. It is wild and rugged. I've had some great adventures there. The local folks are aloof, until they find out you are not from a city like San Francisco. Once the locals found out wife and I were visiting from a chief farming town in NorCAL, we were considered okay.

[oldmansurfer]

Kauai has a lot of drownings every year, far more tourists than others but drowning surfing is a big one for locals as is shoreline fishing and opihi (edible limpet) picking. Here is everything you might want to know about drowning on Kauai http://www.teok.com/drowning-deaths-in-kauai-ocean-shoreline-waters/ Typical drowning victim on Kauai is a middle aged male visitor............. just in case you might want to visit

[oldmansurfer]

I meant to point out that over here people often go out in ocean conditions that are very dangerous. These people often are born and raised here and have knowledge and skills that help to keep them safe from the ocean. Others with no such knowledge or skills will think "that looks fun. I can probably do that too". Perhaps those who are enjoying the ocean also enjoy the danger aspect of it not appreciated by the observers. I was body boarding in Hanakapiai, one of the places where numerous drownings occur. I had fun but it was probably one of the most treacherous currents I was ever in which made it very difficult for me to get back into the beach. It took me several attempts before I figured out how to get back in. When I got in a tourist came up to me to talk. He said "Boy that looked fun! But I saw the sign over there mentioning that there were dangerous currents and numerous drownings but you seemed to do well. Do you think it would be safe for me and my family?" Now perhaps he hadn't realized I was attempting to come in and failing to do so prior to succeeding. But basically I told him if you have to ask then you will die out there so don't go out. Later during that day a woman was swept out and her husband went in after her and fortunately their kids just sat on the shoreline and watched their parents drown or it could have been 4 people dying that day. The ocean is deceptively deadly. But the locals often have fun with it and survive.

[oldmansurfer]

Here is another example of someone with skills playing around in a dangerous area John Florence in the shoredump