Pohoiki Boat Ramp Study

Hawaii Island’s Kilauea Volcano lower East Rift Zone began erupting on May 3, 2018, ultimately transforming the landscape of the Lower Puna district on the southeast coast of the island. When the eruption stopped in August 2018 lava had covered more than 13 square miles of residential, farm, industrial and natural lands, and created some 875 acres of new land extending into the ocean. At Pohoiki Bay, site of the State DLNR-Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation (DOBOR) Pohoiki Boat Ramp facility, large volumes of volcanic debris (rocks, cobbles and sand) began to fill in the bay and the vicinity of the boat ramp. By the spring of 2019 the bay was filled, and the boat ramp was land locked by a 200-foot wide black sand and cobble beach.

Sea Engineering was contracted by the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation, to prepare a concept screening study for re-opening the existing ramp facility or relocating it to an alternate site. The work involved a site visit and coastal engineering to develop concepts for evaluation, and development of a rough-order-of-magnitude (ROM) construction cost estimate for the two concepts. Planning, design and permitting costs were also estimated.  The study found that Pohoiki clearing is prohibitively expensive.  The estimated cost to restore the boat ramp, including the jetties, would be about $37.9 million, more than twice the estimated cost of building a new boat ramp at “Malama Flats,” an alternative site just south of MacKenzie State Recreation Area.