Famous 90-Foot Sea Arch Collapses at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park

One of the most recognizable sights at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park is now gone. The Hōlei Sea Arch, which stood about 90 feet tall along the coast, has collapsed into the Pacific Ocean.

The National Park Service announced the news on October 1. The arch was still standing on September 23 but was gone by the night of September 27.

NPS doesn’t know exactly when it fell. The park was temporarily closed during Tropical Storm Nolo, and the collapse may have happened sometime during that closure.

The area around the arch had already been unstable for years. In fact, the park moved the viewing area farther away from the cliff back in 2020 after new cracks started showing up.

The Cliffs Had Been Unstable For Years

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Earthquakes during the 2018 Kīlauea eruption and summit collapse damaged the cliffs near Hōlei Sea Arch. New cracks were found in January 2020, leading NPS to close the original viewing area.

A new viewing spot opened that March. It was moved farther back from the cliff edge, where visitors could still see the arch without getting as close to the unstable area.

The arch continued to change after that. NPS said large surf from Tropical Storm Darby later broke off a chunk of rock from the lower part. The park had warned visitors for years that Hōlei Sea Arch wouldn’t last forever.

The Arch Was Formed In 550-Year-Old Lava

Hōlei Sea Arch was cut into a lava flow that is about 550 years old. Waves slowly wore away different layers of rock until the arch formed.

NPS had even noted on its page for the landmark that it would eventually crumble into the sea. The ocean keeps wearing away the cliffs long after an arch takes shape.

The formation stood about 90 feet high and stretched out from the cliffs into the Pacific. Visitors could see it near the end of Chain of Craters Road. Other sea arches can form as the coastline continues to change.

NPS Is Warning Visitors To Stay Back

The sea arch may be gone, but the surrounding cliffs are still dangerous. NPS said people have already been photographed entering the closed area near where Hōlei once stood.

The cliffs drop straight into rough ocean water and can collapse without warning. The park is asking visitors to stay out of closed areas and away from the edge.

Hawaiʻi Public Radio visited the area after the collapse and found visitors still driving down Chain of Craters Road. Some said they didn’t know the arch was gone until park staff told them.