City budget adds more lifeguards at Hanauma

Expect a bigger lifeguard presence at the Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve under a proposal that’s part of Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s $2.61 billion operating budget for the coming fiscal year.

Four new full-time lifeguards, about a 25 percent increase from current staffing, will allow the popular facility to be staffed during all the hours it is open to the public, Emergency Services officials said.

The Council Budget Committee will hear from all city agencies in budget briefings this week. Emergency Serv­ices is slated to be discussed at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

There’s been much media attention in recent years about Hawaii drownings, and especially those involving snorkeling, the recreational activity most often associated with Hanauma Bay. But city officials say that’s not what’s driving the proposal.

Emergency Services Director Jim Howe, in a statement, said “the addition of four Ocean Safety personnel at Hanauma Bay, funded by visitors to Hanauma Bay, will ensure that there are lifeguards on duty at all times it is open for snorkeling and ocean use.”

The increased positions essentially create a new lifeguard division exclusively for the bay. Hanauma Bay ocean safety personnel are currently part of the Ocean Safety Division’s East Honolulu lifeguard district, said Emergency Services Department spokeswoman Shayne Enright.

The beach is currently staffed with 11 lifeguards during the winter and 12 in the summer, she said. “The lifeguards there do an incredible job. but we want to have lifeguards’ hours extended so they can cover more sunlight.”

The bay is open to the public during winter months from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, except Tuesdays, when it is closed, and until 7 p.m. during the summer.

From an islandwide perspective, the additional positions also will allow the division to pilot a 10-hour, four-day workweek for ocean safety lifeguards, Enright said. If successful there, the policy could go islandwide, she said.

Budget documents show the Ocean Safety Division receiving an additional $171,360 from the Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve Fund for the new positions. The fund, which includes all admissions, parking and other revenues collected at the preserve, is required to be put back into the facility.

The fund is projected to bring in $7.9 million in fiscal 2019, according to budget documents.

From 2005 to 2014 there were 27 drownings at Hanauma Bay, according to a report from the state Department of Health’s EMS and Injury Prevention Systems Branch. Of those, 15 were foreigners and eight from the U.S. outside of Hawaii. There were 10 drownings between 2013 and April 2016.

Ocean Safety reported two drownings and 761 rescues at the bay in 2016, the most recent full year of statistics available.

Snorkeling, the most popular activity at Hanauma Bay, is the leading cause of death for tourists to Hawaii.

Ocean Safety officials consistently warn that snorkeling is deceptively dangerous, especially for the inexperienced, due to the currents in the bay and other hazards. Visitors to Hanauma Bay are required to watch a training video.

Ocean Safety, meanwhile, sponsors public service announcements warning about the dangers of ocean activities on the TVs in 25,000 hotel rooms.

The proposed overall 2019 operating budget is roughly 6.4 percent more than this year. The proposed capital improvement budget is $875 million, down from $1.07 billion in fiscal 2018.