Family Faults Tour Group After Son Swept Out to Sea

[Hum]

HONOLULU ? The tour company that took a group of teenagers on a hike where a New York teen was swept out to sea didn't have a permit to be in the tide pool area where the incident happened, Hawaii officials said Monday.

Hawaii Pack and Paddle has a permit from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources to take kayaks to a specific spot in the bay and hike along a designated trail. But department spokeswoman Deborah Ward said the tide pool area falls outside the area covered by the permit.

Tyler Madoff, 15, of White Plains, N.Y., who was one of the more athletic teens on the tour, was on a kayaking expedition on the west coast of the Big Island last week with a tour group.

They were hiking near the Captain Cook monument at Kealakekua Bay when they stopped to rest at a tide pool, authorities said. That's when large waves washed away Madoff and another 15-year-old boy.

The other teen, from Miami, Fla., was eventually rescued by a private boat and was in critical condition in a Honolulu hospital.

Madoff was with a group of 11 other 14- and 15-year-olds, along with two contracted guides from Hawaii Pack & Paddle and two Bold Earth Teen Adventures team leaders, said Abbott Wallis, founder of Colorado-based Bold Earth, which organizes teen adventure tours on six continents.

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[Growled Member]

Yeah, I'd be faulting the company too.