Hawaii’s 90-foot Hōlei Sea Arch collapses into Pacific as before-and-after photos show what remains

For generations of visitors, Hōlei Sea Arch provided a spectacular payoff at the end of Chain of Craters Road, where volcanic cliffs meet the Pacific Ocean. The approximately 90-foot formation was carved into a lava flow about 550 years old as relentless waves exploited weaker portions of the rock. Over time, differential erosion created the enormous opening that made Hōlei one of the park's most distinctive coastal features. Its name came from hōlei, a small plant native to Hawaii in the milkweed family. But despite its imposing appearance, the arch was never permanent. The same waves that helped create the formation were continually eroding it.

Historic photographs show visitors stopping near the coast to take in the arch and the enormous cliffs surrounding it. That experience changed in January 2020. Park officials detected new cracks and instability around the coastal cliffs and closed the original viewing area. A replacement viewing area farther from the cliff edge opened in March that year. The move provided an early visual sign that this apparently solid landmark and the ground surrounding it were continuing to change.

The arch's final years were particularly eventful. A 2020 photograph shows a National Park Service ranger installing a rope barrier across the black lava landscape near Hōlei. Earthquakes associated with Kīlauea's major 2018 eruption and summit collapse damaged cliffs around Hōlei. Then, later in 2020, massive surf from Tropical Storm Darby tore a chunk of rock from the lower part of the formation. Photographs taken over the years therefore offer more than picturesque views of the landmark.

The exact moment Hōlei gave way was apparently not witnessed. The arch was known to be intact on September 23. The National Park Service then temporarily closed most of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park ahead of Tropical Storm Nolo as forecasters warned of heavy rain, flooding and damaging winds. By the night of September 27, Hōlei had collapsed. The satellite image shows Nolo swirling in the Pacific west of Hawaii on October 3. It provides context for the severe weather affecting the region, but the NPS has not attributed Hōlei’s collapse to the storm. Years of erosion and documented instability had already weakened the coastline.

The final comparison makes the scale of the transformation unmistakable. In the 2022 image on the left, Hōlei’s rock span reaches out from the cliff while the Pacific surges through the opening beneath it. In the image on the right, taken after the September 27 collapse, the entire arch has vanished, leaving an abrupt cliff face above the water. The transformation is part of a natural process that never really stops. The NPS explains that sea arches are temporary features: once waves carve an opening into a headland, erosion continues attacking the remaining bridge of rock until it eventually gives way Officials are now urging visitors to stay away from unstable cliff edges and closed areas. The warning came after photographs posted on social media reportedly showed people venturing into the restricted area where Hōlei once stood.