[ad_1] A 45-year-old man from California drowned while snorkeling near Hawaii’s famous, unattended Black Rock Beach on Monday evening, KITV4 reported. According to Hawaii News Now, the Maui Police Department identified the man as Tommy Cheng of Diamond Bar. The outlet says that bystanders saw Cheng face down in the water before pulling him out onto
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A 45-year-old man from California drowned while snorkeling near Hawaii’s famous, unattended Black Rock Beach on Monday evening, KITV4 reported.
According to Hawaii News Now, the Maui Police Department identified the man as Tommy Cheng of Diamond Bar. The outlet says that bystanders saw Cheng face down in the water before pulling him out onto nearby rocks. By the the time first responders arrived, he was unresponsive and didn’t have a pulse. While the incident is still under investigation, KITV4 reported it appears as though Cheng drowned. Authorities say that he didn’t show any signs of bodily trauma, and ocean waters were rough in the Black Rock Beach area at the time of his death.
Cheng’s death is not the first by the “evocative” Puu Kekaa lava landmark, which has also been referred to as the drowning capital in Hawaii.
While locals are well aware of the beach’s strong currents, some visitors have tragically been taken by surprise. Earlier in 2022, Maui News reported that another 52-year-old California man drowned in the Black Rock area. A drowning and aquatic injury trends report from the Hawaii State Department of Health says that from 2009-2018, ocean drownings were the leading cause of fatal injuries among tourists. Snorkling is the leading cause of those drownings.
Maui, which has earned the morbid title as the island with the most snorkler drownings, has had 94 deaths, while Oahu has had 70 within that same timeframe. Black Rock, also known as Puu Kekaa, had 18 visitor deaths in the injury trends report, the most out of any beach on the island.
According to the same injuries report, snorkling deaths throughout Hawaii are steadily rising, and officials believe that increasing tourism — along with the accessibility of snorkling — is what makes it a fatal activity. “You don’t need a lot of equipment,” Daniel Galanis, injury epidemiologist for the Hawaii State Department of Health, told SFGATE in March, “and the equipment you do need can be purchased for $20 to $30 bucks, and then you just get yourself to a beach and walk into the water.”
Maui County’s ocean safety tips are as follows:
-If you are unable to swim out of a strong current, signal for help
-Rely on your swimming ability rather than a flotation device
-Look for, read and obey all beach and safety signs
-Protect the environment. Refrain from touching all reefs. Help keep the beaches clean and Hawaii beautiful.
-If in doubt, don’t go out!
-Swim in lifeguarded areas
-Never swim alone
-Do not dive into unknown water or into shallow breaking waves
-Do not attempt to dive over large waves
-Ask a lifeguard about beach and surf safety before swimming
The Maui Fire Department and the mayor’s communications office did not respond to SFGATE’s request for comment.
Hawaii contributing editor Christine Hitt contributed to this report.
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