Lack of warnings faulted in teen's blowhole death

By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer

The family of a teen killed at Halona Blowhole says their son might still be alive if the city had posted signs along the water's edge advising of dangerous ocean conditions.

Despite warning signs, tourists regularly venture close to the Halona Blowhole. The city and state must try to balance safety against allowing access to the rugged beauty that is one of Hawai'i's main attractions. Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser

The spout lifted Dick 3 to 5 feet in the air, flipped him upside-down and dropped him head first into the rocky crevice. His body was found the next day.

There are no warning signs on the way to the blowhole from Sandy Beach, Krueger said.

"Signs and lifeguards are the only way to educate visitors," he said. "Honolulu has done a good job with lifeguards, but the signs aren't always visible."

City spokeswoman Carol Costa declined to comment yesterday, citing possible litigation.

For the city and state, the issue points out the difficulty of balancing safety with access to the rugged beauty — ocean, shoreline, trails and mountains — that brings people to Hawai'i in the first place.

There have been 13 drownings on O'ahu since January, some in areas that had been posted for dangerous surf conditions. On an island with 137 miles of coastline, much of it unprotected, many say safety measures are only as good as the personal responsibility exercised by those who use the oceans.

Warning signs are posted at popular beaches whenever dangerous conditions exist, and there are permanent danger and warning signs at shoreline overlooks where powerful surf or steep cliffs pose a particular threat.

The problem is that people don't always heed — or see — the warnings.

Earlier this month, a Chicago man and his brother-in-law lost their lives at the mouth of Hanauma Bay near an area called Witch's Brew. Lifeguards had closed off access to the area and had posted signs along the ledge warning of the dangers, but the pair swam out past the reef.

Lifeguards and firefighters say the best solution is to step up education efforts: train more children to be junior lifeguards, hire rangers or lifeguards to work every beach and tell more tourists of the potential dangers of the ocean.

The city plans to hire more lifeguards to be part of a mobile patrol for areas not regularly guarded, said Ben Lee, city managing director.

The city has 152 lifeguards on 19 beaches, and plans to add six more guards, Lee said. On O'ahu alone there are 56 beaches, meaning 37 have no lifeguards. The city relies on the fire department and Coast Guard to help protect swimmers there, said Jim Howe, operations chief of the Ocean Safety Lifeguard Division.

"We have limited resources to be used for the best interest of the people using the ocean," Howe said. "Hanauma Bay has a different set of risks than Waimea Bay. All you have to do is look at what has happened recently, and obviously it's not enough. We need more resources.

"As a community we could do more."

A sign in the parking lot warns against approaching Halona Blowhole, but it was missed by a victim who approached from Sandy Beach. Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser

"People will read the signs and make their own evaluations of the dangers," Clark said. "People are very confident of their own abilities. They evaluate the message on the sign and do what they think they can handle."

Every day, hundreds of visitors and residents pull into the Lana'i Lookout, less than a half-mile from the blowhole, to take in the dramatic volcanic landscape and deep blue Pacific.

Some climb over the rock wall separating the parking lot from the cliff's edge to get a picture or to take in the view.

Most of those people venturing close to the waters don't see the yellow city and county signs warning of the dangers of getting too close to the edge of the cliff. Two signs on 10-foot poles tell people not to go beyond the rock wall separating the parking lot from the cliff's edge because of dangerous conditions. Another sign warns of the slippery ledges.

Miami residents Yvonne Miller and her friend Mary Noa, who visited Lana'i Lookout recently, said they did not see the signs.

"There were a lot of people down there already when we pulled up," Miller said after climbing back from the ledge. "The wall without any access should have been our first clue that it's not allowed."

Neither felt much danger from the gusting winds and rough surf crashing into the rock ledges.

"It seems too relaxed and easy here," Noa said. "Even this is so laid back. On the Mainland it would be a lot more restrictive."

Lifeguard Capt. Kendall Rust said people have a fascination with danger, and visitors don't understand Hawai'i's ocean.

"They just don't know how dangerous the ocean is," Rust said. "It's like a carnival ride, but you can't turn it off. It's very dangerous."

Greg Matson, a Hawai'i Kai jogger who was taking a breather at the lookout, said he sees many visitors hopping the wall to take pictures or check out what's below.

"There needs to be better signs that tell them more," Matson said. "They're so caught up in the view that they're not seeing the signs. You can't put a fence up, because of the view."

At the Halona Blowhole, where plumes of water shoot out of a lava tube, people were still hopping walls and fences shortly after the death of the California teen.

But seeing others below wasn't enough to lure Randy Edson, of Victoria, British Columbia, and his friends.

They thought about climbing down among the rocky shoreline, but not after spotting the warning sign.

"The signs stopped me," Edson said. "And then I saw the lock on the gate."

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com or 395-8831.