Kauai County has installed a permanent lifeguard tower at Wanini Beach, putting lifeguards on daily watch from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at a stretch of north shore coastline long known for its deceptively calm lagoon and a dangerous back channel with a history of drownings. The aluminum structure cost $103,000 and replaces a roving patrol system the county had relied on for years at the site.
After catastrophic North Shore floods and landslides limited road access beyond Hanalei in 2018, the Kauai Fire Department Ocean Safety Bureau covered the beach with roving units instead of a fixed post, according to Hawaii News Now. That flood event dumped nearly 50 inches of rain in 24 hours and caused highway damage, a disruption that reshaped Ocean Safety deployments for years afterward, as detailed by Kauai Family Magazine.
Mayor Derek Kawakami said lifeguards are often the first line of protection for residents and visitors at the island's beaches, and that the new tower gives them a safer workplace along with a clearer view of the water at what the station's report describes as a challenging north shore spot. The structure provides a higher vantage point for monitoring ocean conditions and responding to emergencies, and it shelters lifeguards from rain, wind and sun during long shifts, per the county.
A Beach Built to Fool Swimmers
The hazard at Wanini, also known as ʻAnini, comes from its geography. The beach sits behind Hawaii's longest continuous fringing reef, a nearly two-mile barrier that creates a calm, swimmable inner lagoon while concealing deep ocean channels nearby where outward rip currents can surge, according to To-Hawaii.com. The back channel near the beach is specifically known for strong currents and a history of drownings, per the same account relayed by Hawaii News Now.
That hazard has proven fatal more than once in recent years. A 61-year-old visitor from California died in October 2025 after being pulled from the waters at ʻAnini Beach Park, where lifeguards performed CPR before he was pronounced dead at a regional hospital, according to Kauai County. In August 2022, an 81-year-old snorkeler drowned at the beach and was recovered by the Ocean Safety Bureau's roving patrol unit, the system that operated there before the permanent tower was built, as reported by Kauai Now.
A 59-year-old Arizona snorkeler went missing near ʻAnini Beach. Academic research has examined Kauai drownings from 1970 through 2009, according to research published by ScholarWorks@BGSU.
Part of a Bigger Statewide Push
The tower arrives as Hawaii grapples with ocean drownings as a leading cause of visitor injury death statewide. Ocean drownings remain a leading cause of visitor injury death statewide, according to the Hawaii State Department of Health; nearly half of ocean-drowning victims in the last decade were residents. Drowning is also the leading cause of death for children under 15, according to Kauai Now.
Kauai Fire Department Ocean Safety Bureau Chief Kalani Vierra said the new tower represents years of dedication, perseverance and commitment to protecting lives.
Built by a Crew of County Workers
The county purchased the tower from Bausch Enterprises Inc. of Stuart, Florida, and it was installed by Kleve Zarbaugh, Gerald Hurd, Tyrus Siale, Eric Pereza, Christopher Davis and Zackery Harris, with help from Department of Public Works staff Bryson Cummings, Lance Edralin and Brannon Rivera, per Hawaii News Now. A formal blessing ceremony for the tower will be held at a later date, the county said.
Lifeguards continue to remind the public to swim near a staffed tower whenever possible. The Ocean Safety Bureau can be reached at 808-241-4984, and beachgoers can check daily ocean conditions online.
