Visitor Dies After Cliff Diving at Nawiliwili

First responders have located the body of a diver who went missing at Nawiliwili on Kauai on April 15th, 2022. The diver has been identified as 39-year-old Shane Uzzel of Hudson, Florida. Uzzel is listed as a Firefighter/EMT at Norwegian Cruise Line on his Facebook page. (Uzzle is the spelling on the Facebook page.)

Shane was reportedly cliff diving around 3:30 AM in the waters off Nawiliwili when he was swept out to sea, according to a County of Kauai news release. The friend he was with lost track of him and reported him missing shortly after. Upon conducting a joint search and rescue operation, a Coast Guard cutter recovered Mr. Uzzel at approximately 6:00 AM. The body was found by a Coast Guard helicopter 50 to 60 yards off the shore. Mr. Uzzel was transported to Wilcox Hospital and declared deceased at 7:45 AM.

Nawiliwili, Kauai’s main harbor near Lihue Airport, is not known for cliff diving. And the time of the incident (3:30 AM) makes little sense for cliff diving. There are some rocky precipices towards the Ninini Point Lighthouse and Kukii Point but the seas are rough in the area and the shoreline is rocky. In short, cliff diving should never be attempted at Nawiliwili no matter the time of day or night.