Guide helps Kauai visitors experience beaches safely

Kauai County is distributing a new Official Kauai Beach Guide with updated information on lifeguard stations, rip currents and important safety tips.

“The beach safety guide is part of a larger effort to continue to educate our visitors on how to stay safe while visiting our beautiful beaches,” Kalani Vierra, head of the Ocean Safety Bureau, said in an announcement Friday. “We urge any individual or organization that deals with visitors regularly to have these ocean safety brochures on hand.”

The free guide, now in its fifth edition, is available through the Kauai Fire Department, the Office of Economic Development and the Kauai Visitors Bureau. It is already on stands at the Lihue airport and several hotels.

Organizers estimate that more than 1 million copies of the brochure have been printed since its original version in 1999.

@brief — headline1:Access to beaches restricted after shark sightings

Shark sightings closed two West Hawaii beaches Friday, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported.

Access was limited at Kahaluu and Laaloa beach parks after two sharks were spotted Thursday and Friday.

A 15-foot tiger shark was spotted near Kahaluu by a Hawaii Fire Department crew in a helicopter at about 9 a.m. Friday. Lifeguards at Laaloa, or Magic Sands, were letting some beachgoers sand-skim near shore but weren’t letting swimmers venture into deeper water after a shark was spotted at 12:30 p.m. Friday about 100 feet offshore.

Lifeguards also saw a shark Thursday morning at Laaloa.

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Star-Advertiser staff