Porteguese Man-o-War nearly killed me.

[wontbslow]

You've never seen the little bright blue ones with a clear bubble "sail" and 8-10 foot tenacles? Unless Hawaii has changed since the 70s and 80s there should be lots of them. I got stung most days on the windward sides (Kauai and Oahu) with trades blowing. All of a sudden, they'd be all around you and it's time to get out of the water.
Never heard of box jellies there either. Is this the lethal one that occurs off Australia?

Yup, those suckers are everywhere in Hawaii. I used to go boogie boarding off Waimanalo Beach, and they were all over the place, floating close to the coastline, washed up on the sand, everywhere. The ones I usually saw were pretty small, but I hear they can get dang big. I never did get stung, but my brothers and sisters alwasys did. Lucky me, I guess.

 

[kidspot]

Glad you're ok - We get them mostly on the windward side of each island in Hawaii, though the leeward coasts can get them too -I've been stung twice on the leeward side of Maui, it was like bumping my arm against the burner plate on my stove - burned like crazy for a few minutes, then became an "itch" for about 30 minutes before going away.

Leesa, you can see them almost any day at Kailua beach (at least I've seen them every time I went there)