Drownings Are On The Rise As Tourism Surges In Hawaii [View all]

A record-breaking 10 million visitors are expected to vacation in Hawaii this year, driving the economy with $18 billion in spending.

But it’s the tourists who don’t make it home alive that experts focused on Friday at the state’s annual ocean safety conference in Honolulu.

Drowning has long been the leading cause of death for tourists in Hawaii, far outpacing the rate of drownings for residents and the national average. And that’s not likely to change anytime soon, especially as more people come to the islands and venture to more remote corners thanks to social media.

Just this week, a 37-year-old man died after scuba diving on the North Shore of Oahu, a 68-year-old Canadian man drowned off of Hawaii island and a search was called off for a missing local swimmer at Polihale Beach on Kauai, the same place a 53-year-old Georgia man drowned last month.

Read more: https://www.civilbeat.org/2019/07/drownings-are-on-the-rise-as-tourism-surges-in-hawaii/