A man in his 70s was rushed to an emergency room in critical condition Wednesday afternoon after he was found unresponsive in one of Ko Olina's man-made lagoons. Good Samaritans pulled him from the water along Aliinui Drive and began CPR before paramedics took over with advanced life-saving efforts, continuing treatment en route to the hospital.
Honolulu Emergency Medical Services responded to the scene around 2 p.m. Wednesday and estimated the man's age at 74, according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. First responders said he was found unresponsive at the lagoon before bystanders brought him to shore. No further details were available at the time of the newspaper's report.
A Third Serious Water Emergency in Weeks
Wednesday's incident is the latest in a troubling run of ocean emergencies along this stretch of Oahu's leeward coast. Just three days earlier, an 88-year-old man died after going unresponsive while snorkeling off Ko Olina Marina during a catamaran tour, as Hoodline reported at the time, with the tour boat crew starting CPR before ocean safety and fire crews took over resuscitation efforts. That death came less than two weeks after a 62-year-old man died under similar circumstances on August 26, after becoming unresponsive while snorkeling off Ko Olina; Honolulu police found no evidence of foul play in that case.
The pattern isn't new to the lagoons themselves. In March 2023, a 5-year-old visitor from Utah drowned at Ko Olina Lagoon 4 after getting into distress while snorkeling in shallow water, according to SFGATE, with bystanders again initiating CPR before paramedics arrived. That earlier tragedy underscored how the lagoons' tranquil surface can mask unexpected dangers even for young swimmers in shallow water.
Why No City Lifeguards Patrol the Lagoons
Part of what makes these repeated emergencies possible is a jurisdictional gap that puts the burden of first response on bystanders and resort staff. During a July 2026 public meeting, the Honolulu Ocean Safety Department confirmed that city lifeguards do not hold primary jurisdiction over Ko Olina's four man-made lagoons because they are privately owned resort facilities, even though municipal emergency crews still respond to 911 calls there. Standard emergency procedure in the coves relies on bystanders or resort staff initiating CPR immediately on shore, followed by Honolulu EMS administering advanced life support en route to emergency rooms.
The lagoons themselves were engineered to feel safe. Constructed in the 1980s by developer Herbert Horita, the four artificial basins feature rock breakwaters that block open-ocean surf to create calm-looking coves, though natural tidal currents still flow through ocean gaps to flush water through them, according to Ola Properties. The calm surface can lull swimmers, and rescuers, into underestimating the risk.
A Hidden Medical Danger for Older Snorkelers
Beyond the jurisdictional gap, state health officials have identified a physiological explanation for why seemingly healthy older visitors can go silent in the water without any obvious struggle. State Department of Health research into unexplained tourist drownings, detailed by Honolulu Civil Beat, found that many sudden deaths while snorkeling stem from Rapid Onset Pulmonary Edema, a condition in which fluid rapidly accumulates in the lungs due to negative airway pressure or heart conditions rather than seawater inhalation. The condition particularly affects middle-aged and older swimmers, offering a possible medical thread connecting the recent string of incidents even though each case remains distinct.
The stakes for visitors statewide are stark. Nearly 69% of all ocean drowning fatalities across Hawaii involve visitors, according to the Hawaii Water Safety Plan as cited by Beat of Hawaii, making drowning the leading cause of injury-related death for tourists in the islands. Snorkeling is the single activity most commonly associated with those drownings, linked to 42% of drowning deaths among non-residents and 27% of all ocean drownings statewide, per Hawaii Department of Health injury data.
State Pushing Water Safety Awareness
State leaders have moved to address the broader drowning crisis, even as the Ko Olina cases continue to mount. Hawaii Governor Josh Green signed Senate Bill 2841 into law establishing May 15 as official Hawaii Water Safety Day, aimed at expanding public drowning prevention outreach and statewide swim instruction. The condition of the 74-year-old man remained critical as of Wednesday, with no further updates released on his identity or circumstances.
