KAWELA BAY AND TURTLE BAY AREA DESCRIPTION
ÔŌiʻo is located on the
north shore of Oʻahu. Kawela
Bay Beach lies between two limestone headlands and is typically characterized
by small waves due to protection from the shallow reef at the mouth of the bay.
The shoreline at Turtle Bay and Kuilima is composed
mostly of exposed limestone shelf with 'perched' calcareous beach above the
water line. Beach rock is also prevalent. Several small beaches are found
between limestone headlands. The area is exposed to north and west swells
during winter months and easterly tradewind waves
year-round.
Long-term (1928-2015) shoreline change rates for Kawela Bay Beach (transects 0-34) are low (< 0.4 ft/yr). Historical shorelines
since 1949 indicate that Kawela has been stable or
slowly accreting. The beaches inside Turtle Bay (transects 35-55) have
experienced low to moderate rates of change with the highest erosion rates (up
to -0.5 ft/yr) around
transect 47. Kuilima Cove Beach (transects 56 - 62)
has experienced stable to mild rates of erosion (< -0.2 ft/yr) since 1975.
Early shorelines (pre-1975) were omitted at Kulima
Cove to remove bias from construction activities associated with rerouting of Kuilima Stream away from the cove in the early 1970's. Shoreline positions extracted from 1910
and 1932 T-sheets were omitted from the study area due to overall poor data quality.
Previous studies by Hwang (1981) and Sea Engineering (1988)
found the shoreline to be stable or accreting at Kawela
Bay. Hwang found no significant
long-term change (1949-1978) to the beaches inside Turtle Bay and did not
provide analysis of Kuilima Cove Beach.
For more information see: http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/asp/coasts/oahu/index.asp
1 Hwang, D. (1981) "Beach changes on Oʻahu
as revealed by aerial photographs", State of Hawaii, Department of
Planning and Economic Development.
2 Sea Engineering, Inc. (1988) ÒOʻahu
shoreline studyÓ, City and County of Honolulu, Department of Land Utilization.
Keywords:
Oʻahu; Kawela Bay; Turtle Bay; Kuilima
Cove Beach