A view of Maui on the Road to Hana.
A view of Maui on the Road to Hana.francesgonzalez/Getty Images/iStockphoto
On Wednesday, a California woman died after being pulled from the ocean at Koki Beach, just past Hana on Maui. Immediately prior, a woman from Texas was also pulled from the water and was hospitalized in critical condition.
The Maui Fire Department responded at 10:16 a.m. to a report of two people unresponsive in the water. When firefighters arrived, bystanders were performing CPR on the 53-year-old Texas woman, while an off-duty firefighter paddled on a surfboard into the water to retrieve the 56-year-old California woman.
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Firefighters continued CPR on both victims. The Texas woman regained a pulse and was flown to the hospital. The California woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
Officials have not released the women’s identities or said what activity they were doing, whether swimming or snorkeling.
“The conditions were reported as being very, very small, mostly calm, with just a little bit of light chop,” Maui Fire Department spokesperson Christopher Stankis told SFGATE. He added the two women were likely together, but “we’re not 100% sure of that yet.”
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In Hawaii, drowning is the leading cause of injury-related deaths for visitors. Snorkeling is often the leading cause of those ocean drownings, with some of Maui’s beaches accounting for a disproportionate number of fatalities.
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Koki Beach does not have lifeguards. “Everyone’s got to look at conditions and take honest stock of their own capabilities and skills, and decide whether or not they should be going into the water in those different places,” Stankis said. “Some of these, like the beaches in the Hana area, are fairly remote. Often don’t have a lot of people at them, so when something unfortunate happens, there’s often little to no one there to give you a hand.”
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July 17, 2026
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Hawaii Contributing Editor
Christine Hitt is the Hawaii contributing editor for SFGATE. She is part-Native Hawaiian from the island of Oahu, and a Kamehameha Schools and University of Hawaii graduate. She's the former editor-in-chief of Hawaii and Mana magazines.