This time of year in Hawaii, how long does it take for you to sunburn? (Honolulu: ski resorts, 2013)

[galaxyhi]

Originally Posted by Grassyknoll

This week, my step-daughter who is visiting from California burned in about 45 minutes even with an spf30 sunblock applied. She is pretty fair-skinned. Even when the temperature feels cool, that tropical sun is strong.

Sounds like me.
I can burn on a cloudy day {its the UV then}, and any sun can be dangerous for us "fair of skin", even if "tanned".

I wonder if ericthebean is fair skinned and worried about burning? Sunscreen, sensible clothing and moderating exposure and one can survive quite well in Hawaii. Now if one chooses to "bake in the sun" for hours at high sun on the beach, well, one is asking for it...

[Ericthebean]

Originally Posted by Grassyknoll

This week, my step-daughter who is visiting from California burned in about 45 minutes even with an spf30 sunblock applied. She is pretty fair-skinned. Even when the temperature feels cool, that tropical sun is strong.

She had to have not applied the SPF 30 pretty much at all to the parts of the body that got burned. There is no way you can sunburn in 45 minutes with an SPF on in January. Or she was outside longer than that and you didn't keep track.

I have the fairest skin on the planet and in October I hiked Diamondhead in the sun a good 60 minutes and did not get burned. We hiked it around noon-ish after we visited Pearl Harbor that morning. That afternoon we further went to the Sheraton Waikiki Beach pool and beach....got no sunburn at all. I have type I skin. January the sun is weaker than October.

[Ericthebean]

Originally Posted by galaxyhi

Sounds like me.
I can burn on a cloudy day {its the UV then}, and any sun can be dangerous for us "fair of skin", even if "tanned".

I wonder if ericthebean is fair skinned and worried about burning? Sunscreen, sensible clothing and moderating exposure and one can survive quite well in Hawaii. Now if one chooses to "bake in the sun" for hours at high sun on the beach, well, one is asking for it...

I have model estimations for cloudy day sunburning

Says you can get slightly burned in about 3 hours as a light skin person in Hawaii on a completely overcast January day. On a June day you can color in 40 minutes on a completely overcast Hawaii day.

I think another way travelers can burn earlier than these estimates such as the person who visited this week from California, is the factor that the human body is not on the natural defensive against UV when you just arrive the first day in Hawaii. My model assumes you are a local or have been on the island a while before you can use this result

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by Ericthebean

I have model estimations for cloudy day sunburning

Says you can get slightly burned in about 3 hours as a light skin person in Hawaii on a completely overcast January day. On a June day you can color in 40 minutes on a completely overcast Hawaii day.

I think another way travelers can burn earlier than these estimates such as the person who visited this week from California, is the factor that the human body is not on the natural defensive against UV when you just arrive the first day in Hawaii. My model assumes you are a local or have been on the island a while before you can use this result

Eric - don't quit your day job, your model is terrible and not realistic. Leave it to the professionals.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by Ericthebean

She had to have not applied the SPF 30 pretty much at all to the parts of the body that got burned. There is no way you can sunburn in 45 minutes with an SPF on in January. Or she was outside longer than that and you didn't keep track.

I have the fairest skin on the planet and in October I hiked Diamondhead in the sun a good 60 minutes and did not get burned. We hiked it around noon-ish after we visited Pearl Harbor that morning. That afternoon we further went to the Sheraton Waikiki Beach pool and beach....got no sunburn at all. I have type I skin. January the sun is weaker than October.

One of the simplest and easiest logical errors one can make is to assume that others will have the same responses to things as you do. But everyone is different, and the official models try to strike a happy medium between diverse experiences.

Originally Posted by Ericthebean

I think another way travelers can burn earlier than these estimates such as the person who visited this week from California, is the factor that the human body is not on the natural defensive against UV when you just arrive the first day in Hawaii.

As far as I can tell this is a physiological fantasy, unrelated to medical fact. Unless you have proof of this claim I'd leave it off your infomercial.

My model assumes you are a local or have been on the island a while before you can use this result

In other words, it's pretty much useless for the people who come to this forum for information, is that what you're trying to say?

[galaxyhi]

Originally Posted by Ericthebean

I have model estimations for cloudy day sunburning

Says you can get slightly burned in about 3 hours as a light skin person in Hawaii on a completely overcast January day. On a June day you can color in 40 minutes on a completely overcast Hawaii day.

I think another way travelers can burn earlier than these estimates such as the person who visited this week from California, is the factor that the human body is not on the natural defensive against UV when you just arrive the first day in Hawaii. My model assumes you are a local or have been on the island a while before you can use this result

Who designed this model? What is their definition of "light skinned"?
3 Hours??? I can "slightly burn" in an hour on a cloudy day, even here in NY! {NEVER tried to get sunburned in January here, though}..Oh, OK, IF you have "been on the island a while" Maybe. Being closer to the equator than NY is, I'd venture to say about the same is true for both Jan. and June. June is definite sunscreen month!

The very first time we went to HI, It was to the North Shore of Oahu {Turtle Bay} The last week of Jan., first week of Feb. Since we passed the Dole Pineapple plantation on the way to check in, we decide to go back the next day and took our time about it. It was overcast and drizzly. Even though we both had "tanned" in a booth to get that "base layer" before going-but had no "color'- by the time we had been there an hour outside at about 11 Am {until noon}, and we had some 'color'-starting to burn. {It "shows up on the skin" on certain sunglass shade spectrums BEFORE it shows as red skin, so we knew it was coming}. we hightailed it to the mini train ride {which is under cover and with the clear side curtains down} as it started to rain.

The second day, with all of rain, drizzle and clouds at the Polynesian Cultural Center, we definitely burned quickly for our second exposure to the "winter HI sun". Stoopid us {with two "O's instead of a "u"} didn't put on sunscreen. Fortunately Noxema works fast to help ease it {never leave home without it!}. Apparently, so does Kukui cream!
If one is "fair skinned", one should be "fair warned" always

[nerdlette]

Slap on the SPF. My photosensitivity (sun allergy) is easily triggered here in Hawaii. I can lay on a NE mainland beach/pool for hours and be okay with regular application of SPF 15. Here? I'm almost always in the shade.

[OpenD]

I suppose it's a good time to add a few sunscreen tips...

Don't bring sunscreen with you if it is not labelled "Coral Reef Safe" and you plan on going in the water. If you can't find it at home, wait and buy it in Hawai'i. Sunscreen which is perfectly safe to use at the lake or by the pool on the mainland often contains ingredients that are deadly to coral reefs.

Might as well use the highest SPF sunscreen, since the SPF factor only applies to perfectly applied sunscreen, and typically must be reapplied every 3 hours to maintain the rating. For the record, the strongest rating allowed to be claimed in the US, by law, is SPF50. In other countries higher numbers are allowed, but they are basically bogus. SPF50 is the highest rating that actually means anything.

Any degree of sun reddening is a sign of permanent damage to your skin, which is cumulative, and unrepairable. Use sunscreen, big hats, long sleeved shirts etc. to avoid excess exposure. And watch for high burn facto in shaded locations... with white sand and water to bounce the light around, one can burn quickly even under an umbrella or a lanai cover.

Besides, if you head inside, the ice in your drink will last longer...

[Ericthebean]

For January, no sunscreen, drizzling weather...Hawaii my model puts fair skin at 3 hours to burn...under drizzling rain weather middle of day. It looks like this matches the person's description

I think my model isn't wrong. I think the person who got red color last week spent more time outside than the less than 45 minutes...person didn't count that the minutes you are walking outside, not just when you are basking in the sun, are add-on minutes...if you wanna go by diverse experiences...I am the fairest skin type there is. I never met anyone who burns faster than me

[Mark.ca]

Originally Posted by Dreaming of Hawaii

Gee, Eric, what is this facination with sunburn in Hawaii? Just a few months ago you started a thread "Is the late October sun still dangerous for vacationers with fair skin?" Will we see another one in three months?

+1
Weird obsession on this one...