POIPU, Hawaii (KHON2) — Wisconsin visitor Matt Jacobus was visiting Kauai for his brother’s wedding. The triathlete said he had been swimming around Poipu for a few days and decided to go for another swim at Kiahuna Beach on Nov. 7.
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“The water seemed to be relatively calm, there weren’t really big waves or anything it seemed like a calm day,” Jacobus said.
He said he was snorkeling for less than 10 minutes when he noticed the ocean floor was seemingly dropping.
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“The depth seemed to have dropped to around 20 to 25 feet which I thought was odd because I thought I was still close to the beach,” he recalled. “I poked my head up and looked towards the shore and I saw I was over 100 yards away.”
He said he did everything wrong at first. He said he gasped, which caused him to inhale water which made him panic even more, and then he started trying to fight the rip.
“I was looking down at the ocean bottom, and realized I was moving further away,” he said.
He said he considered waving his hands but realized there were no lifeguard stands at the beach, and the people on the beach looked so small in the far distance. The nearest lifeguard tower is at neighboring Poipu Beach.
“Luckily, I’m a triathlete and I’m in good shape,” Jacobus said. “And so I picked a line parallel to the east with a slight angle to the beach and swam as hard as I could.”
He said it took one minute to get out of the rip and another minute to get to shore. He wanted to share his experience to help raise awareness to others who can be deceived by Hawaii’s clear waters.
“I didn’t think there was any risk involved until I was in an absolute emergency situation,” he continued.
“If you’re not a strong swimmer or you don’t have good cardio, I wouldn’t even recommend taking the chance unless you’re with a tour group, lifeguards or have guides,” he said. “Just don’t take the chance, even if you’re a strong swimmer it’s too big of a risk. The water was calm, and I didn’t realize I was that far out until I was.”
“Even with swimming and cardio it almost wasn’t enough for me, that’s the level of caution that needs to be exercised going out in the water,” he added.
He said Hawaii lawmakers should consider requiring all visitors to wear fins when going out snorkeling and to ban full-face masks. He also said all airlines should have safety videos warning people of ocean dangers.
“And don’t go to a beach without a lifeguard,” Jacobus said. “I’m never doing that again.”
The day before Jacobus’ incident, Kauai County called off its search for an Arizona man who went missing off ‘Anini Beach on Kauai’s North Shore.
The county said the 59-year-old was snorkeling with others but never returned to shore.
‘Anini is also a non-guarded beach. Since Jan. 1, there have been nine visitor drownings on Kauai, compared to eight in 2023.
“I think if just one person sees this and it saves their life it’s worth it,” Jacobus said.
On Friday, Nov. 15, another visitor died on Oahu’s North Shore while snorkeling at Shark’s Cove.
The Visitors Aloha Society of Hawaii is assisting the family who says she was an international visitor.
It’s the fourth death in as many weeks on Oahu’s North Shore, all were at popular non-guarded beaches, and all four were visitors.
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Honolulu Ocean Safety is reminding visitors of the extremely dangerous ocean conditions during the winter months (October to April) on north-facing shores and said beaches are for spectating only.
To see which beaches have lifeguard towers, click here.
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