San Jose man who died on Hawaiian honeymoon was ‘super strong’ swimmer

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) — Steven Phan, a San Jose man who died in Hawaii on his honeymoon from an apparent snorkeling accident, was a “super strong” ocean swimmer, his best friend told KRON4.

Phan, 49, and his bride were celebrating their new life together on a trip to Honolulu when their dream honeymoon turned into a nightmare. The bride and groom were snorkeling off Electric Beach in Nānākuli on June 1 when Phan suddenly disappeared underwater.

The newlywed bride, Brittany Myers Phan, “was ahead of him. And at some point, she looked back, and he wasn’t there,” Phan’s best friend, Sean Rankin, told KRON4.

Phan was found 10 minutes later unresponsive in the water. Good Samaritans on the beach spotted Phan floating in the water, pulled him out of the ocean, and performed CPR. But it was too late — Phan had already drowned, Rankin said. He was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

Rankin said, “For seven years we lived in Southern California and he bodyboarded all the time. I would surf and he would bodyboard. He was a stronger swimmer than I was.”

Brittany Myers Phan was stuck in Hawaii for several days because she didn’t have an ID to fly back to the Bay Area. A thief stole her backpack from Electric Beach during the snorkeling emergency, with her wallet, ID, cellphone, and rental car keys still inside.

“She is a wreck, as we all are,” Rankin said.

Local residents who live near Electric Beach were also saddened by the drowning incident. “I’m still kind of shaky inside just thinking, oh my God, they’re honeymooners. It’s supposed to be happy,” Rhonda Aquino, a local Waipahu resident, told KRON4 sister station KHON2. “I feel so sad inside, like, cannot believe still.”

Phan, who worked as a manager at Apple in Cupertino, celebrated his wedding day in Puerta Vallarta, Mexico in March. On Tuesday, his friends and family gathered in Campbell for his funeral.