Beachgoers are being advised to use caution when they're at the Fort DeRussy Beach because beginning today there will be no lifeguards at the stretch of beach fronting the Hale Koa Hotel in Waikiki.

The Army, which operates the hotel, announced this summer that it would no longer provide lifeguards on the beach. The Army had been paying for the lifeguards for the past 50 years, but the recent downturn in the economy forced military officials to look for ways to cut costs.

John Jefferis, Hale Koa general manager, estimated that it cost about $180,000 a year to hire the 16 lifeguards who watched over the beach. The Army also learned that adequately training the lifeguards for open-ocean rescues would cost about $245,000 annually, which the military determined was a cost it could not bear.

He said only about 10 percent of the incidents that lifeguards responded to at Fort DeRussy Beach involved military personnel or their dependents. Since the beach falls under the state's jurisdiction, Jefferis said, the Army decided to turn over lifeguard responsibility to the state.

Kevin Yim, staff officer for the Department of Land and Natural Resources Boating and Ocean Recreation Division, yesterday said the state has no plans to place lifeguards at the beach.

"What happens is you wind up setting a precedence so that if you have a lifeguard at one state beach, you'd have to put lifeguards at all the state beaches and that's not something that's economically feasible right now," Yim said.

"We're concerned, but it is a fact of what's going on."

Bryan Cheplic, spokes-man for the city Emergency Services Department, said city lifeguards will respond to emergencies when they are called.

"We've responded to emergencies in that area before and we will continue to respond to emergencies in that area," Cheplic said.

Jefferis said signs will be posted on the beach to let people know that there are no lifeguards on duty. Lifeguards will continue to work at the hotel's swimming pool, he said.

He added that even after the economy rebounds, the Army has no plans to restore lifeguard service at the beach.

"It started from a financial perspective and cost and then it turned to a review of the responsibility and jurisdiction that the beach does belong to the state and the issue of public safety then borne by the state. That was the basis of the Army's decision," Jefferis said.