By AUDREY McAVOY, Associated Press
LIHUE, Hawaii – Travel guidebooks call Kipu Falls “a glorious little hidden place” and a “swimming hole extraordinaire.” But the alluring beauty of the waterfall and natural pool conceals a deadly side.
Five visitors have drowned at Kipu Falls in the past five years, including two since December. In most of the cases, the swimmers jumped off the top of the waterfall into the pool of blue-green water about 20 feet below, then were pulled to their deaths while attempting to swim to the shore. Others have suffered chest injuries, rope burns, perforated eardrums and broken and sprained ankles. A teenage girl was paralyzed after jumping there.
The deaths have given rise to speculation about whether there’s a powerful whirlpool current in the swimming hole and prompted local authorities to push for greater restrictions to the site. The local tourism bureau became so alarmed by the toll that it mounted a campaign last year to push guidebooks to remove all references to the place.
It supported a bill before the Hawaii legislature that would have made writers and publishers of travel guides liable if a reader is injured or dies while trespassing on private property they have depicted. The bill died amid protests from publishers who said it violated their First Amendment rights.