A rockslide between two popular oceanside tourist attractions near Hanauma Bay shut down Kalaniana'ole Highway in both directions for more than two hours yesterday afternoon.

There were no injuries, but police closed the highway until the stability of the mountainside could be determined, and rocks and debris could be cleared from the inside, town-bound lane of the highway.

HPD Lt. Calvin Tong said the rockslide occurred between Lana'i Lookout and Halona Blowhole at about 12:38 p.m. He said HPD District 7 officers arrived moments later and were instructed to close the highway and begin turning traffic away for safety reasons.

"I wasn't concerned what size the rockslide was," Tong said. "It was just the fact that if some of the mountain came down, I didn't want the rest to come down while traffic was passing."

State Department of Transportation spokeswoman Tammy Mori said the slide consisted of rocks, sand, mud, slate and small boulders that formed a pile about 9 feet wide and 7 feet high. She said that a state maintenance crew arrived at around 2 p.m. and began clearing away the debris.

Meanwhile, a state geotechnical engineer assessed the stability of the mountain and said it would be safe to reopen the highway. By 2:45 p.m., the work crews had finished and traffic again began moving in both directions.

"The engineer made an initial assessment," said Mori, who added that he would be return to the rockslide scene today. "He'll have to go back to do further evaluations to determine if we need to make some permanent fixes to that slope."

She said motorists who were turned around appeared to be willing to cooperate.

"I saw quite a few cars getting turned around," Mori said. "But they were told right away that it was a rockslide, so I think they understood — Mother Nature always wins."