High Waves Close Some West Hawaii Beaches

For the second day in a row, three West Hawaii beach parks were closed today because of high waves.

The affected county parks were Kahalu`u Beach Park and La`aloa Beach Park, also known as Magic Sands. Also closed Sunday and today was Hapuna Beach, which is a state park.

Bill Hanson of Hawaii County Civil Defense said that in addition to the beaches, the parks themselves were being closed to the public.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Land and Natural Resources said the pavilions and other areas around Hapuna Beach were also closed to the public except for persons holding permits to stay at the cabins located in the mauka area of the park.

Hanson said no damage had been reported as a result of the surf.

A strong northwest swell prompted the National Weather Service to issue a high-surf advisory through 6 p.m. today for west-facing shores of the Big Island.

Because the smaller islands to the west were feeling more of the effects of the swell, those areas were under a high-surf warning.

Forecasters said that the swell would continue a gradual decline today.

However, another pulse from the northwest was expected to bring more high surf through Tuesday afternoon, although that was expected to mainly affect north and west shores from Niihau to Maui.