Waikiki Beach is about to get wider thanks to a sand restoration project. Temporary and sectional beach closures will last through March.
Millions of visitors and locals flock to Waikiki Beach every year to enjoy the surf, sun and sand - a manmade beach imported over time since early last century.
"But then beach restoration pretty much came to an end, I don't know why, and the beach from my perspective has been neglected for at least 30, 40 or 50 years, so we're coming back and we're basically going to improve this amenity," said Sam Lemmo, DLNR Conservation & Coastal Lands.
A blessing was held Wednesday for a $2.5 million project funded by the DLNR, Hawaii Tourism Authority and Kyoya - Sheraton's parent company. 24,000 cubic yards of sand will be pumped onto a 1,700 foot stretch of Waikiki Beach from the Duke Kahanamoku statue up just past the Royal Hawaiian, adding about 37 feet in width. Mobilization begins January 9, and the project should wrap up in March.
"It's going to take awhile for us to get the sand onshore, get it to dry out, get it to change color because when you first bring it up it's sort of that grayish color, after about a week in the sun it will turn the nice yellow color," said DLNR director William Aila.
The Diamond head basin of Kuhio Beach will be closed January 9 through the end of March, serving as the detention basin for the sand drawn up from offshore.
"The Ewa basin here will be open, and then what's going to happen is we're going to bury a pipeline all the way through the beach, past Moana Surfrider up to Royal Hawaiian, and we're going to blow the sand through the pipeline," Lemmo says.
The restoration will be done in 200 foot section closures, stepped back every few days.
"We're going to try to create the least amount of disturbance to the public as possible. Of course there will be things happening in the water, but there will be people watching out to make sure that nobody's getting into any kind of trouble," Lemmo says.
The beach next to the Ewa Kuhio Beach Park swim basin will close from the 10th through the 12th while two deteriorated groin structures are removed.
"We want to do this right, we want to work with people like george downing, make sure that we not only protect the beach but protect the surf, because waikiki is more than just a beach, it's the ocean, so this is going to be done right by DLNR," said Mike McCartney of the Hawaii Tourism Authority.
