Hilo’s Coconut Island has been closed since November 2025 after a county crew drove an 8,000-pound excavator across its pedestrian bridge and collapsed it. Hawaii County now says even a temporary fix is two years away, and full reconstruction won’t even begin until 2029.
It took 8,000 pounds to collapse the bridge.
On November 14, 2025, a county crew drove an excavator weighing roughly 8,000 pounds onto the narrow pedestrian bridge connecting Hilo to Mokuola, better known as Coconut Island. The bridge was designed for foot traffic only. It was never intended to handle heavy machinery, and it failed under the load, although it had been used this way before.
The collapse sent a worker to the hospital and immediately cut off public access to one of Hilo’s most used and most beautiful shoreline spaces, next to Queen Liliuokalani Gardens. We visited the site weeks after the collapse and reported from the scene; what has changed since then is the scale of what will come next.
A temporary fix is coming, but not for a long time.
Hawaii County is now pursuing a temporary bridge solution, likely a modular span, to restore basic pedestrian access while a permanent structure is planned, designed, and built. That first phase alone comes with a projected cost between $1.5M and $2M and, perhaps more. More importantly, that timeline stretches 18 to 24 months.
The mayor has pushed publicly for the shorter end of that window, aiming for closer to 18 months, but even that best-case scenario keeps Coconut Island closed well into 2027. That is a long time for what has long been one of the lovliest access points near Hilo.
The permanent bridge is a separate, longer project.
The temporary span is only part of the plan. The permanent replacement bridge is being handled as a completely separate project, with a current construction start targeted for 2029.
That project is expected to cost around $20M if estimates hold, with the county pursuing federal funding to help cover the cost. Planning for the permanent bridge is underway alongside the temporary solution, but the timelines do not overlap in any way that would speed up access.
One environmental review will cover both projects.
To streamline the process, Hawaii County is combining the environmental assessment for both the temporary and permanent bridges into one single review. The site sits directly on Hilo Bay, with coastal and reef considerations that require careful review, and by bundling both projects into one environmental process, the county avoids repeating those steps later.
What visitors and locals have been missing.
Coconut Island is one of the most accessible and widely used shoreline spots in Hilo, and the closure has taken away a long list of simple, everyday activities.
Swimming from the protected areas around the island remains off limits. The diving tower, which has long been a draw for both residents and visitors, has sat unused. Families who relied on the park for walks and picnics have been shut out. Fishing access has been cut off as well. Kamehameha Day celebrations that used the island as a gathering point for years have also been disrupted by the closure.
What happens next and when.
The county is issuing requests for proposals to design consultants for both projects, with bids expected to better refine final costs and timelines. They do not need a council resolution to move forward, but the pace will still depend on design, environmental review, and contractor availability.
Have you visited Coconut Island before? Were you planning to go back on an upcoming Big Island trip?
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Is there such a thing as competitive bidding in Hawaii? $20M? Reminds me of the $9M spent to move some gravel around to “clear a channel” at Pohoiki which the currents then filled up with sand and gravel again within 24 hours.
Coconut Island was never just a tourist stop. For a lot of families it was part of growing up on the Big Island. I learned to swim there, fish there, and just hang out there with friends and family. The loss of that space is a bigger deal than officials seem to understand.
We were planning to take our grandkids there on our next Big Island visit. It was going to be one of those easy outings with a picnic and a walk around the gardens too. Now it sounds like that will not happen for a very long time. Disappointing.
My kids loved jumping off the tower there when they were younger. It was one of those places that made Hilo special and accessible. Closing it for this long feels like losing part of the town and none of it makes sense.
This is exactly why people lose faith in government. How did the cost of the fix go up 10 times? The bridge was for pedestrians anyway I thought. Everyone knew that. Then somebody drives heavy equipment over it and now the public is the one paying for the mistake in cash and in time. And people are saying it had been used for that equipment for years.
We used to stop at Coconut Island almost every time we were in Hilo because it was easy, free, and iconic. The kids loved it. The idea that one county mistake can shut it down for years is just maddening as a Big Island resident.
Literally, only in Hawaii could something so relatively small take so incredibly long to fix, but then that is exactly what HST (Hawaiian Slow Time) is all about!
“With the County pursuing Federal funding” –Hawaii is glad to take handouts from the mainland, and then charges tourists for everything, including Beach access, that is free for Hawaii residents.
Deplorable aloha.
Absolutely hilarious. It’s a pedestrian bridge for goodness sake. Anywhere else in the USA, it would be done already. The biggest cost is taking away the busted part of the bridge. Are they thinking it should be made of gold?