Honolulu: Ocean safety

Drownings in Hawaii are all too common. Waves can sweep in from two thousand miles of open ocean onto beaches magnificent to look at but unprotected by any reef. Not all beaches have lifeguards and warning flags; unattended beaches are not necessarily safe. Watch the sea carefully before going in, and never take your eyes off it thereafter. Fierce rogue waves can appear from the blue to drag waders - or even those walking along the shore - far out to sea in seconds, and powerful undertows may not be detectable until too late. If you do get swept out, don't fight the big waves; wait for the current to die down before trying to swim back to shore.

Sea creatures to avoid include black spiky sea urchins , Portuguese man-of-war jellyfish , and coral in general, which can give painful infected cuts. Shark attacks are much rarer than popular imagination suggests; those that do occur are usually due to "misunderstandings," such as surfers idling on their boards looking a bit too much like turtles from below.

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