The Mānā study area is located on the west coast of Kaua‘i on the Mānā Plain. The area includes the air strips of the Pacific Missile Range with Mānā Point at the center of the area. The shoreline is characterized by extensive beach rock backed by vegetated sand dunes and broken by carbonate sand beach. The study area is exposed to swell from the northwest and west during winter and spring months, swell from the west and southwest in the summer as well as persistent tradewinds.
The area is divided into three discrete sections for analysis and description purposes. The southernmost section (transects 0 – 15) is experiencing erosion with an average shoreline change rate of -0.5 ft/yr. The next section to the north (transect 17) is eroding with an average shoreline change rate of -0.1 ft/yr. The northernmost section (transects 20 – 33) is eroding with an average shoreline change rate of -1.3 ft/yr. Previous studies* did not analyze the Mānā study area shoreline.
*Makai Ocean Engineering and Sea Engineering, 1991 Aerial Photograph Analysis of Coastal Erosion on the Islands of Kauai, Molokai, Lanai, Maui, and Hawaii. State of Hawaii Office of Coastal Zone Management Program.
Last updated: July 2021
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