Warning signs are posted along the pathways in Wailea, but it isn’t enough to deter some visitors from entering the ocean without lifeguard service. The Maui News/Gary Kubota

Maui led the state with Kauai a close second in having the highest rate of drownings from 2020 through 2024, according to the Hawaii State Department of Health.

The rate of drownings on Maui was nearly three times as high as Oahu and more than double that of the Big Island based on population size.

The total number of drownings from 2020 to 2024 totaled 183 on Oahu, 97 on Maui, 42 on the Big Island and 40 on Kauai.

Maui has less than 20% of Oahu’s population, but the Valley Isle is physically larger than Oahu, with miles of coastlines including billion-dollar resorts that do not have lifeguards. Signs are frequently posted near shoreline sidewalks warning beach goers of the potential dangers, but the ocean can still pose hidden dangers, especially for those unfamiliar with Maui waters.

Cary Kayama, a retired Maui County ocean safety operations manager, said the weather can be nice and easy in the mornings in South Maui, but the wind is often stronger in the afternoon hours, occasionally blowing 15 to 25 mph.

“For us, we can see the wind line coming in. The tourists don’t know,” he said.

When the wind picks up and currents become stronger, lifeguards will tell visitors to put down their umbrellas and advise swimmers and snorkelers to return to shore.

Maui County water safety lifeguards operate 12 lifeguard towers on Maui with 80 water safety personnel.

When lifeguard services are needed at resorts such as Kaanapali and Wailea, lifeguards are dispatched from county beaches to assist in the rescue.

On May 23, two men from Kazakhstan drowned about 50 yards offshore between Wailea Point and the Four Seasons Resort. Lifeguards about two miles away at the county Kamaole Beach Park III responded to the call as family and other people watched from the shoreline.

“There were no beach rescue devices on the beaches,” recalled Marty Forbes, who witnessed the drownings.

Given that beaches are public, Naomi Cooper, the deputy director of the Maui Hotel & Lodging Association, explained that beach and ocean safety falls within the county’s and state’s jurisdiction.

However, Cooper said the hotels have had discussions with the county on how they can partner and support water safety staffing.

“We definitely support any type of partnership that can be arranged,” she said.

Cooper said a lot of the tourists who frequent Maui’s beaches are not staying at the hotels and visitors are responsible for their own safety.

County Department of Fire and Public Safety spokesperson Chris Stankis said the department has long supported the expansion of beach protection.

“We have been working since 2019 to secure permissions and go through the permitting process with the various landholders and entities in Kaanapali to place lifeguard towers on that beach, a process that we hope to bear fruit the next year,” he said.

Stankis said the bureau worked in partnership with the visitors bureau to create a safety video that has been shown in the baggage collection area of Kahului Airport and shared multiple times on the county’s social media platforms.