Hawaii’s 550-Year-Old Hōlei Sea Arch Collapses Into the Pacific
National Park Service says the 90-foot lava arch fell between 23 and 27 September, likely during Tropical Storm Nolo.
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File photo: Hōlei Sea Arch at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park (December 2010). Photo: Frank Kovalchek, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
For geologists, the loss of Hōlei is part of a continuous cycle of coastal change on an active volcanic island. For many residents and tourists, it removes a familiar silhouette from one of Hawaii’s most visited national parks. The park remains open under normal operations, with the former arch site closed and monitored as the shoreline continues to erode.
Chain of Craters Road remains a main route for visitors seeking lava landscapes and ocean views at the park’s southern edge. Rangers say the safer overlook opened in 2020 will stay in use where conditions allow, but closed zones near the former arch will be enforced while geologists assess fresh cliff instability after Tropical Storm Nolo’s surf and rain.
