HPD confirms death of man pulled from water at Three Tables Beach

PUPUKEA, Hawaii (KHON2) — Honolulu police confirmed the man who was pulled from the water at Three Tables Beach on Monday, Nov. 11 has died.

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According to military officials, the 29-year-old soldier was based in Washington state. It's the third drowning on Oahu's North Shore in less than a month .

Missing snorkeler found off Three Tables

Three people were snorkeling at Three Tables on Monday when they got into trouble with a rising swell.

"Unfortunately, we had people that came to this beach with mask and snorkel gear and jumped in the water, got caught and stuck in trouble, got caught in the rip current," said Lt. Jesse King, Honolulu Ocean Safety.

Two were rescued from the water but the 29-year-old was seen caught behind the reef.

"They're all waving and the wave literally blew them right over the table and both of them were cut head to toe after that. Then the third guy, he was under," recalled Eric Olson who lives at Three Tables.

Olson has made many rescues himself over the years and said the man was under for more than 30 minutes.

"Between the fire rescue and the lifeguard rescue, there was 10 guys out there risking their lives trying to find him," he added.

The man was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. Madigan Army Medical Center at Joint Base Lewis McChord in Washington confirmed one of their soldiers passed away.

According to the state health department data, ocean drownings were on the rise up until the pandemic with a record number of deaths in 2017 and 2022.

The DOH said more than 50% of drownings are visitors.

Another double drowning happened at Ke Iki Beach in October. Both Ke Iki and Three Tables are unguarded beaches.

Find more Hawaii, Oahu, Maui and Kauai news here Honolulu Ocean Safety said they have support from the city and the public to place a new tower somewhere on the North Shore.

"Ideally in a perfect world, we would have a tower at every beach. That's a process, slow process over time that we hope to accomplish," said King.