Keep Your Kids Safe From Doing These 5 Things in Maui
Out of respect for the environment, the laws, and your children’s safety we made this blog to inform you on things to be mindful of when bringing your children to Maui.
These are the top things to make sure your kids aren’t doing while in Maui.
1. Touching the Sea Turtles
As much as I want to grab shell and take a ride on a sea turtle its not good for the turtles and against the law. The fine for touching (harassing) sea turtles if caught can be anywhere from $1,000 to $10,000. The green sea turtle is listed in the threatened species classification and the hawksbill turtles are on the endangered list, so the government is working to keep the turtles safe while getting their population numbers back to a healthy level.
2. Touching the Hawaiian Monk Seals
Touching a monk seal could not only be dangerous to you and the seal, but is extremely illegal. As part of the Endangered Species Act, it is now a felony to touch or harass a Hawaiian Monk Seal and the fine can be up to $50,000. There’s only about 300 of these guys on the island chains and the government is going to do all it can to get these numbers back up.
3. Playing in Dangerous Shore Break
Many of Maui’s beaches have dangerous shore break, there are very few that have a tide pool or a safe area to swim in actually. However, whether or not there’s a shore break depends on the swells and the south shore is generally very flat during the winter months, but can get shore break up to 15 feet in the summer. The shore break is the cause of many broken bones in Maui so make sure the beaches you’re planning on letting your kids swim at are safe. Check some of our other blogs for safe beaches for kids to swim at.
4. Playing on Rocks Along the Ocean
The volcanic rocks along the ocean are often very sharp or slippery and can contain many sea urchins that could prick your children. Also, random swells can hit at anytime and can sweep you into the ocean.
5. Swimming in Rip Currents
Before getting in the water be sure to ask the lifeguard if there are any rip currents you should make sure your children keep away from. These currents can sweep you out to sea and are difficult to swim through back to land.
Hawaii can be a very fun place to bring your kids and by being aware of these dangers you’ll be able to enjoy it safely.