‘Dr. Beach’ says powerful Hawaii shoreline is 2021’s best

“There was a lot of darkness at that time, I mean everyone was closing,” she said of the early days of the pandemic. “I wanted people to know that through good times and bad, we would still be there.”

Miranda said Hapuna Beach is a powerful place — both spiritually and literally. “It’s unapologetically magical,” she said.

When the water is calm, it’s a great place to be, Miranda said. But when the ocean rises and big waves begin to crash, it can be “really dangerous.”

“It’s beautiful, but there’s a very strong undertow there,” she said.

Growing up on Hawaii Island, a place of active volcanoes, towering waterfalls and huge sea cliffs, she learned to respect nature.

“The ocean in general in our culture is a really powerful place,” she said. “It’s very healing, but you know the way that we grew up, it gives but it takes away, right?”

Leatherman agreed and said that while Hapuna has a well trained group of lifeguards and is great for swimming and snorkeling on calm days, the winter swells can be deceiving.

Rip currents cause “the greatest loss of life that we have at beaches,” he said. ”I’m trying to give people a better understanding of rip currents because a lot of people don’t understand them. They say ‘We can’t see them, then they’re probably not there.’ ”