Shark Sighting Closes Magic Sands Beach

By Max Dible and Tiffany DeMasters

La‘aloa Beach Park, also known as Magic Sands, is closed till about 1 p.m. due to a 14-foot tiger shark sighting this morning, July 6.

According to water safety officers on scene, the shark came in from the north at approximately 10:40 a.m. and got less than 100 yards offshore. Lifeguards cleared the waters where about 60 people were swimming at the time of the sighting.

Surfers climbed on the rocks as the animal made its way through the point then headed out to sea.

“You could see the whole body because of the clear water. You could physically see it moving,” a water safety officer on scene told Big Island Now. “This thing was coming in hot off the point and it went hot out too.”

Because a lifeguard saw the shark, it’s a confirmed sighting.

According to Hawai‘i Fire Department, Ocean Safety Captain Alvarez is consulting with the Department of Land and Natural Resources. The standard protocol is to close the beach for two hours and do helicopter overflight to determine if the shark left the area.

If there is no sighting, the beach will reopen.