Hanauma Bay is back in business after rockfall work

Beachgoers returned to Hanauma Bay this weekend after the city closed the park an extra two days last week to clear a rockfall hazard.

Some tourists had to delay their visit, but made sure they went to Hanauma before leaving Hawaii.

Claire Barber planned to see the bay during the three days her family had rented a car. But the bay was closed those days. Her family made it on Saturday by taking a tour before returning to Australia.

The city began rockfall mitigation work on Tuesday when Hanauma is normally closed. The planned work continued on Wednesday and Thursday. A park employee said workers used hand tools to dislodge dangerous rocks from a cliff above a steep walkway — the only access from the visitor center to the beach — and took away two or three truckloads of debris.

John Visser, a driver for Hanauma Bay Beach Shuttle, which moves visitors up and down the walkway, said the work was probably related to a rock the size of a dining-room table falling about a month ago.

Visser, 42, had just parked at the bottom of the hill when a rock about 4 feet long fell off the cliff 20 feet behind him.

"There was a loud boom and then a cloud of smoke, and everybody came running from the beach," he said.

Anyone on the roadway or riding in the shuttle would have been killed, he said. The rock broke into basketball-size chunks, and park staff cleaned it up.

He blamed the roots of a banyan tree for cracking the rocks. He felt safer with the mitigation work, but worried about what might happen during heavy rains.

Gary Cabato, director of the city Department of Parks and Recreation, did not return a call for comment yesterday, and Visser’s description could not be confirmed.

On the beach, however, visitors were unconcerned about the rockfall hazard and happy the bay was open.

Ryan De Silva, a driver for Hanauma Bay Beach Shuttle, said the crowd swelled about 50 percent more than usual when the bay reopened Friday.

"My day was just jam-packed," he said. "Everybody wanted to come in."

The foot traffic settled to a normal level Saturday.

Fawn and Rick Hite of St. Louis postponed plans to visit the bay after hearing someone at their hotel’s pool complain about the bay’s temporary closure.

"We just waited," Fawn Hite said. "It wasn’t a big deal."

Kristina Oliveira, 16, of Ewa Beach got her driver’s license Friday and drove her three cousins to Hanauma Bay on Saturday to celebrate.

When told about the rockfall work and the park’s subsequent closure, she said, "They should put a fence (to catch the rocks) up over there."