Pohoiki in the Future Perfect Tense

[leilanidude]

So far the county is letting people swim at Pohoiki. We got that going for us.
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Wait until Monday. Time for County to hire "security" to keep people out, again.

[Obie]

12/26/25

The contractor is still on the hook until 12/26/25.

Park is still closed and construction fences are up.

[ironyak]

kalianna - Looks like a pretty nice swimminʻ hole--while it lasts.
Yeah, about that... ye old blue water swimming hole we hardly knew ye! But some folks are trying to reestablish by hand at least some water flow & let some ocean critters out before it's too late. Get to see how much the community really wants that ocean access!

[kalianna]

By the time we got there today, they had dug out a six foot section about ankle deep--enough to let the waves break in and keep it fresh. It was truly glorious. Water temp varied from 80- 120 degrees. You can close your eyes and pretend youʻre at Ahalanui again. Go quick before itʻs land-locked.

[randomq]

I was thinking about that, Kalianna: if this fails as a boat access, at least they could make it into a new Ahalanui! I wonder if they could somehow bury pipes in that channel, but extend them in a way that they wouldn't fill with sand. Or maintain ocean water circulation in some other way. Then dredge out the inside to make a huge pond, and put big rocks along the ocean edge like Onekahakaha.

[leilanidude]

Rocks have already closed it up completely. 

https://hveri.org/pohoiki

[kalianna]

Iʻve been watching the local news sites and there has been nary a peep about this little whoopsie.  While swimmers got a few days of bliss, the fishing folks, who were to be the primary beneficiaries of this endeavor, still have no hope of ocean access after many years and millions of dollars to study then implement this misguided plan.  My heart goes out to them.

[MarkD]

Here's a good 2019 article someone posted on Facebook:  New Boat Ramp For Puna Recommended At Mālama Flats, Not Pohoʻiki.

It correctly cites the problem with sediment buildup at Pohoiki, noting that same problem might not occur elsewhere along the coast.  Several inlets/bays/harbors have been dug out of solid lava on our island, including Honokohau Small Boat Harbor and Sheraton Waikaloa's big lagoon.  They work fine, do not suffer debris build-up.  Ditto for Ahalanui bathing pond before the eruption, mentioned by another poster above.

Interestingly, the black sand beach that sat in front of "new Kaimu" (out front of Uncle Roberts) is now gone after nearly 20 years of being there (it was gone when I last looked 4 months ago).  We might be able to surmise that the giant waves that regularly strike the Puna shore will eventually drag most debris into the deep (ocean is very deep just 100 yards offshore).  

But seven years on from the Kapoho eruption, this does not seem to have happened yet with a huge amount of debris that was thrown in the ocean at Kapoho Bay and south to the tidepools.  That might mean any dredging project at Pohoiki is doomed to failure -- at least for the next few years.  And it further might mean that any coastal projects have to be built on the shoreline north of Kapoho.  As we know the sideshore current only carries the debris south, toward Pohoiki.

[MyManao]

Here's a good 2019 article someone posted on Facebook..

Interestingly, the black sand beach that sat in front of "new Kaimu" (out front of Uncle Roberts) is now gone after nearly 20 years of being there..

The sands of Kaimu were emplaced, deposited, there at the same time Kaimu bay was filled in by the flow that in the preceding months (in the spring of 1990 -- 35 years ago) inundated Kalapana. The last chapter of the book Aloha O Kalapana tells the story of Piilani Kaawaloa being the first to repeatedly carry hala and coconut keiki out in an attempt to use their roots to keep the sand from disappearing. The cover of the book is a pic of Piilani planting hala in that very sand.

Kaimu Bay, before it was filled in with lava in 1990, had captured a lot of sand from the 1955 eruption that had sent flows into the ocean just up the coast. The same flows Seaview is built on. By the time the bay was filled in with lava in ’90, the sand was almost gone. Black sand beaches of this kind.. i.e., created through primary volcanic processes, are fleeting. Once the eruption is pau, for the most part, there is no more sand being created, and thus eventually erosion, mostly the movement of the ocean, sweeps the loose debris away. Kaimu had the added disadvantage of being on a newly emplaced lava flow.. which itself is going to calve back from its original size. Whereas the sands of Pohoiki are not subjected to the same, they are still in motion..

In an earlier post here I laid out why I think putting a harbor at Kaimu is the best plan going forward.

But here we are. Interestingly, I think the dredging project stands a chance of ultimately being a success. As it is it opened the bay. It didn’t open a channel all the way back to the ramp, but it did carve a notch out of the otherwise solid block of debris. And, as we have seen, the rest of the pile is very unstable and will move.. is moving.. and maybe the water that is tidally surging in and out of the new bay is going to be transporting more rock out of there over time than it was without this change.

As to gets.. I think we already got a new surf break. It’s the off season for southern swells, but bumbai.

[ironyak]

It seems unlikely the state is going to invest the tens-of-millions of dollars needed for a entirely new boat harbor, or even more extensive dredging, especially in a lava zone that repeatedly reminds us all that human endeavors are fleeting. Maybe what Pele takes away, Namaka will restore in time - hopefully the DLNR invites them to the committee meetings to determine next steps.

https://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2025/...boat-ramp/
"Project Options 3 and 4 provided long-term solutions to reopen the Pohoiki Boat Ramp. Option 3 involved the construction of two large breakwater structures to protect the entrance channel (estimated $46-million). Option 4 involved removing a majority of the volcanic debris from Pohoiki Bay (estimated $40-million). Option 4 was DLNR’s preferred alternative because it was less costly than Option 3 and involved less time to obtain the required project permits and less time for construction.

The funding available from various government sources was only enough for Option 2, which involved dredging of a wide channel (estimated $5.4-million). Unfortunately, nature proved more than a match for this solution.

“The Department is currently examining the site conditions and evaluating options to address the situation and long-term solutions,” the DLNR wrote. “We thank the community for their patience and understanding.”"

HVERI's week long timelapse of the channel closing itself up: