# Kaanapali what a difference four months make



## PassionForTravel (Mar 27, 2016)

We were at wstin Kaanapali villas last November and just finished up at Marriott Maui ocean club (yeah I know tough life ). We were shocked at the difference in the beach between the two trips. When we arrived there were signs at the Sheraton warning of the surf break. Last November the beach at the westin villas was a fairly wide with a reasonable entry into the water. This trip the beach ended at the plants and dropped at 45 angle into the water. At the north side of black rock it was pretty wide. Last trip the beach in front of the Sheraton was very wide, this time there was almost no beach. Last time in front of the Maui ocean club was very narrow, this time it was so wide that we had to wear flops so our feet didn't get burned by the time we reached the water. We talked with a local and he says this happens every year. Fascinating.


----------



## DaveNV (Mar 27, 2016)

Ocean activity, the season of the year, and wave action make everything changeable.  It's subtle at the time, but over a few days or weeks, it can be pretty amazing to see the differences.  Chances are, if you went back in November, it'd be like it was last November when you were there.

Kind of like where my home is, here in Washington.  There is a river about a mile north of my house that overflows its banks every Spring.  The floodplain is farmer cornfields most of the year, but in Spring, it floods to a depth of about six inches over a wide area.  From my home we can look between the houses across the street and downhill to see the flooding.  

We jokingly call it our "seasonal water view."  

Dave


----------



## Ken555 (Mar 27, 2016)

This change happened last week in about 2-3 days. When I spoke with the USGS scientific staff taking measurements every four hours about their work, they told me about the rapid change they noticed while there. 


Sent from my iPad


----------



## humuhumu nukunukuapua'a (Mar 27, 2016)

*Beach ErosionS move N and S every year*

When we first started visiting Kaanapali about 2000, we were told that the sand between Sheraton Black Rock and the Hyatt swirls in a wide circle offshore, "moving the beach" from North to South in winter...and reverses this process in spring/summer.  Thus, we always experience a deep beach in front of The Whaler to Sheraton Black Rock every fall visit...and see very thin beach from Whalers Village south to the Hyatt.

Thus, there is supposedly always erosion in front of Sheraton and Whaler condos in winter, with beach deeper in summer/fall and thinner beginning in winter.  [Conversely, the beach becomes deeper in front of the Kaanapali Alii, Marriott, and a bit in front of Hyatt beginning about October-November, and starts thinning out again in the spring/summer:   Given that we are September to December visitors, we see the beach start to "grow" in front of the popular "surfing point" in front of the Alii then.  However, the beach IS thin there by the time we visit in September.]

We were also told that the same phenomena happens NORTH of Black Rock and up to Honokowai (around Aston Kaanapali Shores or so):  ocean moves the sand in swirl South to North in winter, and returns the sand in spring/summer towards the Sheraton Black Rock to Royal Lahaina area).

Essentially, it seems that the existence of the Black Rock "cape" creates two separate ecological beach systems, South and North, but each moves sand in the same way, seemingly keeping the sand from one side migrating substantially into the other side.

I have been reading of the unusually great erosion along Kaanapali (South of Sheraton Black Rock) this past month ...and really this past week!  The beach movement appears to have been greatly accelerated due to recent storms.  Has to make for lots of disappointed beachgoers right now near the Sheraton, as they are squeezed for space back to the green vegetation along the Kaanapali Beach Walk.  I can only hope that the beach returns in equally dramatic fashion this Spring and Summer, as per at least the last 15 years or so.

Perhaps beach movement will change some day, as we experience global warming, rising oceans, and toss in an occasional El Nino effect.


----------



## Tamaradarann (Mar 28, 2016)

*Beaches are losing sand all over*



humuhumu nukunukuapua'a said:


> When we first started visiting Kaanapali about 2000, we were told that the sand between Sheraton Black Rock and the Hyatt swirls in a wide circle offshore, "moving the beach" from North to South in winter...and reverses this process in spring/summer.  Thus, we always experience a deep beach in front of The Whaler to Sheraton Black Rock every fall visit...and see very thin beach from Whalers Village south to the Hyatt.
> 
> Thus, there is supposedly always erosion in front of Sheraton and Whaler condos in winter, with beach deeper in summer/fall and thinner beginning in winter.  [Conversely, the beach becomes deeper in front of the Kaanapali Alii, Marriott, and a bit in front of Hyatt beginning about October-November, and starts thinning out again in the spring/summer:   Given that we are September to December visitors, we see the beach start to "grow" in front of the popular "surfing point" in front of the Alii then.  However, the beach IS thin there by the time we visit in September.]
> 
> ...



I have seen the shifting of sand on beaches on Oahu.  However, in general beaches are losing sand due to rising seas as well as storms that remove more sand than it replenishes,  Two years ago there was a major sand replenish project to add sand to Waikiki Beach.  Most of the sand has now eroded away.  Steps that were 50 feet from the water a year earlier washed out last year and sand and sand bags had to be added to avoid a safety hazard.


----------

