One‘ula Beach Park (transects 255 – 300) is located on the south coast of Oʻahu. The shoreline is composed of carbonate sand and limestone with a fringing offshore reef. The area is exposed to persistent tradewind waves year-round and seasonal swells in summer months.
Beach width and sand volume are highly variable along the western two-thirds of the study area (transects 266 – 300), as underlying limestone is intermittently exposed or buried by shifting sand. Overall, the beach is experiencing chronic erosion at an average rate of -0.4 ft/yr. The west end of the beach has the highest erosion rates (up to -1 ft/yr at transect 289). From the December 2005 aerial photographs, there is no beach at transects 292 -300, only exposed limestone from the water line to the vegetation line.
Previous studies (Hwang, 1981*; Sea Engineering, 1988**) found similar trends in shoreline change for One‘ula Beach.
*Hwang, D. (1981) “Beach changes on Oʻahu as revealed by aerial photographs”, State of Hawaii, Department of Planning and Economic Development.
**Sea Engineering, Inc. (1988) “Oʻahu shoreline study”, City and County of Honolulu, Department of Land Utilization.
Last updated: July 2021
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